What are your thoughts regarding assisted suicide for those who are suffering?

[Stinky The Clown]

[Horse with no Name]

1. We do it for our pets who are suffering

and if someone is terminal and in pain, I do not see why we cannot ease them out in a dignified way.

[Lugnut]

34. I couldn't agree more.

My mother had a massive stroke following hip replacement surgery in December. She had no use of her arms or legs and was aspirating her own saliva. All she could do was speak. She was in a diaper and could do nothing to help herself. We - her family - refused to sign off on a feeding tube which would've prolonged her life to no positive end. The only thing her physician could do was approve feeding her thick liquids because she said she was hungry. When enough of the fluid and saliva caused respiratory failure she died but she suffered terribly in the process. That's inhumane.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I am all for it. We treat our animals (pets) better than ourselves.

I think it's reprehensible that dying people have to suffer because we aren't allowed to help them.

Dr. Kervorkian had the right idea.

[Warpy]

3. My mother had the means within reach for her last 2 years

and I know it gave her tremendous peace of mind.

Not everybody who has the means uses them. In fact, few do. However, all report being able to relax and enjoy what little time they have left when those plans are in place.

[Ian David]

4. I've seen the medical theater dance of waiting until just the right time to ease one's passing...

... so that it's just barely enough.

I don't want that for me.

I don't want my last day to be spent pleading for death.

When it's my time, I want to be able to say my goodbyes and then turn out the lights.

[LooseWilly]

5. Sounds like a good time...

[kestrel91316]

6. My dad in 1980 and my mom earlier this month both could have benefited from it.

[sharesunited]

7. Any kind of ligature and sturdy point of suspension are the friends of the suffering.

A bio feedback phenomenon called carotid reflex can dispatch anyone very promptly.

When return brain bloodflow is impaired due to a makeshift noose, the heart will go into arrest to keep from pumping more blood to the brain.

30 seconds to unconsciousness and death within 5 minutes.

[WheelWalker]

8. They shoot horses, don't they?

[Mojeoux]

10. The Problem Will Always Be Greedy Relitives.

:kick:

[JVS]

32. Don't forget the greedy strangers at the insurance companies.

[Hannah Bell]

37. and don't forget the ptb who prefer to get rid of old people rather than pay earned benefits.

no, "assisted" suicide crosses a line i don't want crossed.

i have seen many things happen at medical facilities i'm not comfortable with.

"assisted" suicide would multiply that.

[JVS]

38. Yep. If those bastards find out that it is considered normal to arrive at a point where one will...

kill oneself rather than keep on living, they will make it their business to force people into that position to make a buck.

[Hannah Bell]

40. imo, those are the people who are pushing such a pov. not a matter of "finding,"

but actively encouraging.

[JVS]

41. Judging by this thread, they've done a good job of "creating consensus"

:-(

[Sky Llama]

9. I support it..

If in that situation I want them option.

[enough]

11. As the daughter and caregiver of two very old parents who died in dementia, I think about this.

I want my family to be able to help me die when the time comes, without wondering if they will have to spend the rest of their lives in jail or in protracted legal struggles. As it is now, I can't ask them to do this.

I can easily name the conditions under which I would want this help, but I know that when that time comes, I will not be able to ask for it.

This means of course that I will have to do it myself, BEFORE that time comes, and I have seen enough of the world and myself to know that I probably won't be able to do it. The reason is that before it's necessary, the urge and desire for life is still too strong. Most of us can't be rational enough to kill ourselves before we absolutely must, at which point it is usually too late.

Dementia greatly complicates this question.

[mopinko]

49. +1

a far greater fear that physical disability for me. and a horrendous burden on my family that i DO NOT want them to have to bear. for what? i have worked hard so that my kids will have it better than i did, grandkids (theoretical) too. why piss that away on nothingness?

[bettyellen]

60. same here, it is a truly horrible thing to have to worry about

[grasswire]

12. I live in Oregon. It's legal here.

Honestly, though, I think if I knew I was terminal and close I would choose to make a statement in the classical way. Self-immolation on the steps of Eric Holder's office or something like that. Might as well send a message.

[saged52]

13. I absolutely support it -

I believe it's the most compassionate option. Convincing my daughter of my wish is another story.

[Odin2005]

14. As long as it's not used to conveniently off the disabled then I'm fine.

[bobbolink]

53. I don't think it would be. WE are easily OFFED now, just by cutting everything until we have

no way to survive, so we OFF ourselves.

"Problem" solved. No muss, no fuss.

[dkf]

15. If I am in a lot of pain I hope I have this option.

But I wouldn't have the guts to help someone else do it. Or I dont think I do. I hope it never comes down to this.

[dmallind]

16. I don't even need the qualifier

If a person's life is not their own what is? As long as there are protections in place to show it's THEIR choice I have no need for someone to be declared terminal (we are all terminal, some just more than others anyway} to believe a safe, painless exit is a useful option. Why are dogs granted more speedy release from pain and anguish than humans?

[lightningandsnow]

17. Although I support bodily autonomy, I worry about what it would mean for disabled folks.

We're already told by society that our lives aren't worth living. That plus an easy way to kill oneself could be deadly for countless non-terminally ill people with disabilities. I really feel icky about able-bodied people commenting on this because I feel like it's a lot of the idea that life with a disability isn't worth living, disguised as concern.

That being said, I do support people's right to bodily autonomy, and it's hard for me to seriously oppose it if someone is in severe pain and terminally ill.

[HeiressofBickworth]

18. The most courageous woman I ever knew

A few years ago very dear friend of mine contracted ALS. It was a particularly rapid form. We had many discussions of the pros and cons of ending it before the disease ran its course. She was concerned that her sons (adults) wouldn't understand, her parents and siblings who were Christian Scientists may not be supportive, etc. On the other hand, the type of ALS that she had would eventually cause her to choke to death -- a frightening and extremely difficult ending that she wanted to avoid. She lived in Holland. The rules of assisted suicide there are that she had to be close to death and two physicians had to approve. She obtained the approvals necessary, set the date, emailed her goodbyes (she was unable to speak, swallow or walk at this point) and at the appointed time her sons (who finally understood) accompanied her to a hospital where she received the drugs necessary to end her life with dignity and peace. I'm crying as I write this remembering what a good friend she was and how missed she is. I'm glad she had the opportunity to avoid the very unpleasant end ALS had in store for her.

[Lost-in-FL]

19. I am for it. nt

[Digit]

20. For one thing, I think legalized marijuana has a place here

If the pain has grown too great to take without being on high doses of morphine, I believe that we owe it to them to choose to try that option.

It would not have worked with my own mother as she had pneumonia...but that did not stop at least one nurse from giving her morphine with impaired her breathing further, plus they tied her little 90 pound frame to the bed which increased her anxiety. Now that my daughter is an RN, she is appalled at how her grandmother was treated. I tried to stop the madness, but they kept kicking me out of the ICU....I mainly wanted to make sure she was being treated humanely.

It had been discussed as a family beforehand what my mother was willing to go through and what she wasn't, but giving that DNR was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. This was after she had aspirated while they were feeding her and she went downhill quickly after that.

It is a difficult call because I am not in that prediction.
Say that I was going to be in a coma for the rest of my life....I would want somebody (somehow) to let me go and not be kept alive by machines.

It is an individual choice.

[eridani]

21. Serious pain amelioration is preferable, IMO

but the anti-drug idiots make that hard sometimes.

[Stinky The Clown]

48. If you numb the pysical pain, and dull or eliminate the mental pain, but the situation is terminal

Why not go to the logical conclusion?

I am not arguing against pain amelioration. Just asking why that should be the limit in a clearly terminal case?

And what of a disfigured and chronically debilitated condition?

[eridani]

58. Why not let nature take its course, unless the individual in question--

--has strong preference otherwise?

[bemildred]

22. If you want to check out, you ought to be able to get medical help to do it right. nt

[polly7]

23. I've thought of this so much. My Dad killed himself eight months ago

in a violent way. When I think of what he went through mentally to come to that decision, it tears me apart. Even though I'd give anything to have him still here and don't blame him for wanting to end the suffering .... for us, I know he believed he did it for us, if he'd had the option to go peacefully surrounded by family ... the loss would be so much easier to bear. Assisted suicide should be a right everywhere. Nobody should have to go through what he did.

[moondust]

24. Generally supportive.

Although wary of having to trust TPTB to do the right thing in an age of corporatocracy, big insurance, and neo-fascism.

[DesertFlower]

25. hubby and i are members of "compassion and choices"

formerly "the hemlock society". we strongly believe in the right to die.

[DesertFlower]

26. self delete.

[DesertFlower]

27. the documentary "how to die in oregon" will

will be on HBO on 5/26.

[Gregorian]

28. It's humane

Just what do people think that life is? In the big scheme of things it's not really important. I loved my cats. I miss them every day. They were special to me. But when the vet said that it was cruel to let Farnsworth continue living in pain, I cried and let him go.

I think it's ironic that life is so undervalued in some ways (see George Bush and Iraq), yet so over valued in others (see George Bush and abortion).

It's hard to put into words. But like atheism, Christianity, life after death, or life during life, we do not know what it is. And so we can't really put a value on it.

I love a sunset, but I don't grab at it to keep it from going away. And who is to say if a sunset is more valuable than a life. No one can. In fact the act of placing restrictions, limiting choice is contrary to life itself. Life is choice. Without choice there would be no life. Flowers wouldn't grow or die.

[bhikkhu]

29. If they choose it, in sound mind, it is a right and a kindness

Too many people are let to die in slow painful misery, in a way we wouldn't allow for an animal.

[AuntPatsy]

30. It is not for me to decide how one chooses to live their lives even if the choice

Turns to ending their own

[JVS]

31. I'm opposed to it until we have some kind of health care system that doesn't harm the poor.

Until economic ruin stops being part of what the sick have to take into consideration, assisted suicide is bound to be a much abused safety valve to the system's shortcomings.

[underseasurveyor]

33. I'm all for it

With appropriate protocols in place, yes definitely.

Suffering is suffering beit man or beast.

[Hannah Bell]

35. suicide is fine; "assisted" suicide, no.

[Stinky The Clown]

46. See above. ^

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=1156061&mesg_id=1156157

[muriel_volestrangler]

47. At what point does assistance start for you?

For instance, if someone buys a ticket for a friend or relative to a jurisdiction that allows assisted suicide, is that assistance? What if they accompany them on a flight, and leave them at a clinic?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

56. So someone who is completely paralyzed, should not have this right?

[buzzard]

36. I think it should be available and legal, my MIL passed away after

years of suffering from COPD, she was a nurse and made me promise to help her if needed, I promised I would but in the end she decided to starve herself to death rather than asking me to do what is illegal here. When she was alive and cognizant she made her wishes well known, I found it very hard spending all those nights with her knowing the outcome wether in hours or days as I am sure did she.

[emilyg]

39. I'm for it.

[Maraya1969]

42. I agree with it. I think it is an act to kindness if that is what the person wants and there is no

help for them otherwise.

I've had to put down several dogs in my life because I have had several and unfortunately they do not live long enough.
The one thing I regret is I waited too long for one of them and let him suffer because of my own denial. I was blind to his suffering because I was in denial. It took a friend to physically help me go through with it.

[cordelia]

43. I'm for it.

[chillspike]

44. You mean like Rupert Murdoch, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh?

I'm all for it. Why?

[Nay]

45. If I were terminal and in pain, I'd jump on the option of assisted suicide. nt

[lapislzi]

50. I think it's none of my business how people live and die

So long as they are not harming others. It is between a person, his family, and his god, if applicable. Having said that, my husband and I have agreed to assist each other should that choice become necessary. And I expect no intervention from anybody else if I decide to take myself out. It's my life, and I intend going out on my own terms.

[w8liftinglady]

51. Let's just say my dad was adequately medicated on hospice.

I have absolutely no problem with a pain-free departure from this planet for a person with a terminal disorder.

[Volaris]

52. I think that for CENTURIES the first (and in some cases ) the ONLY

recognized Human Right was the Right to choose the time, place, and manner of one's own death. There is no dishonor in it, and IF there is a God, that God doesn't care about the time, place, or manner anyway; as far as that kind of God is concerned, carbon-based chemistry is carbon-based chemistry, and it makes little difference as to what is the mechanism by which it stops working. I fully support one's RIGHT to die on one's OWN terms. And respecting the wishes of one who has conquered that most human of fears, is just..well, the thing your SUPPOSED to do, I guess.

[PassingFair]

54. My brother stockpiled morphine when my father had ALS....

Just in case it became too much for my dad to handle.

My dad felt more relaxed knowing that he had
an exit if he needed it, at any time.

He died in the hospital though, when his diaphragm
stopped working, following the natural course
of the disease.

I think people should be allowed to bow out
when they determine life is unbearable.

I do think that some counseling should be considered
first.

[snooper2]

55. Any person should be able to take their own life for whatever reason they want

If they are in a state where they can't do that, then yes somebody should be allowed to help...

Also, as long as they have the mental capacity to understand the concept of death.



Still I semi-free country last time I checked

[Greybnk48]

57. I'm for it. n/t

[mzteris]

59. wtf not? n/t