Off topic, and I will probably stir the pot......

I'm definitely in favour of death with dignity.

As for it being against the Hippocratic Oath, that's debatable. I would think medically assisted suicide would be handled somewhat like abortion. All doctors wouldn't be required to provide medically assisted suicide, but doctors who were trained in the procedure and wanted to offer that sort of care to their patients could do so.

The fear mongering regarding depressed teens and women in the depths of post-partum depression, etc. is totally ridiculous.

I don't think it should be limited to people who have terminal illnesses.

It's your life, if you choose to end it, you should be allowed to. Why make it gruesome and brutal ala home remedy when we could offer lethal injections? I don't necessarily think you should have to pass rigorous mental examinations. I think you should see a counselor to note if it's something that you could feasibly work through and if you want to work through it, awesome. If you don't, it should be an option.

But there have to be loads of witnesses, to ensure that the liability falls to the person seeking the injection and not the company who is administering it. Otherwise I think it could get a little dicey (injecting people who didn't request it because their family, enemy, mob, whatever, wants them dead w/o a rap sheet).

also - tie up your loose ends. no fair leaving five kids for the system to handle - you have to take care of everything first.

If you DIY, in a hurry, you typically leave those loose ends anyway. But I agree, it would be best to have your affairs in order. If you make the easiness of it too in-accessible though, then it might deter people from PAS and going back to DIY. I would imagine it's pretty difficult trying to think of others and their happiness/wellbeing when all you want is an end to it all; that is, unless it is in the case of someone who has been dealing with a terminal illness, or these feelings, for a long stretch of time. Then they've probably given thoughts toward how to arrange their piece after it's all said and done.

This is a very depressing Tuesday topic

if you want depressing, there's a documentary about this called "How to Die in Oregon." I cried a lot. very sad and eye opening.

I wasn't going to say more than I already had but the topic has stuck with me.

I think that it's a product of medical advancements and the increase in longevity, some of which I believe falls under the 'just because you can, doesn't mean you should' banner, but we seem to do it anyway.

Personally, I would be completely against allowing people who suffer from depression, anxiety, etc to make this decision on their own, ever. And no, I don't believe wanting to die is necessarily a sign of mental illness.

My belief on this matter comes from personal experience. I've lived with depression, anxiety, and other things since childhood. Most of my life has been spent with a suicide plan. I never acted on it because I knew what it would do to my family and friends and I wasn't prepared to do that. Better that I suffer than them.

But had there been the opportunity for a legal assisted suicide method, I think I would have taken that route. I think it would have been a hugely wrong decision on my part. Because for as bad as my mental illness has been over the years, this place I am now, where I finally have a sense of 'normal', weird though it is, is worth every moment of hell I went through. Don't have a clue what the people I took with me through hell think, mind you.

For me the hardest question would be 'how long?' How long must a person struggle with their burden before it's okay to let them go?

The other part of my brain, however, also asks the questions 'how dare anyone tell anyone how long they must live their lives?'

First I'd like to just get off my chest why I HATE the pro-choice argument of "my body my choice" because it doesn't apply to anyone else.

That being said I am all for this. It was less than a year ago that an elderly man tried to kill his wife and himself in the nursing home a block away from me. She had terrible denmentia and he could no longer take seeing her in that condition. He tried killing her before himself and they both lived, desite his attempts. It's sad that the heartache led him to be that desparate.

My aunt is currently losing a battle with cancer. She is just in her 50's and has two young daughters. My dad was with her last night and said that she is only awake for a few minutes at a time and when she is awake, she is screaming in pain. She has no function in half of her body and no hearing. She's only taking a few breaths each minute. My dad has seen some horrible, graphic deaths in his 30 years of being a firefighter and paramedic and said this is one of the most pro-longed, torturous deaths he's seen.

When someone is terminally ill, why torture them rather than letting them go peacefully?

And finally, I don't take it lightly at all. Not even close. I don't think anyone who has answered does.

I'm pretty sure a few of the responders do take it very lightly but that's because this is a fitness forum and the chit-chat, fun and games group of that forum.

Not exactly the place to expect intelligent discourse on a topic of this nature.

now I'm curious. where exactly do you expect any type of "intelligent discourse on a topic of this nature"? do you know something about people that I don't?

Well of course it's not a place to expect intelligent disclosure, but it still doesn't take away from the point that I don't think anyone here who has commented takes it lightly. Some may have fun with is, which is ok too, but that doesn't mean that they take it lightly when it comes down to the nitty gritty.

I understand what you're saying but the poster I quoted is clearly implying that people don't take it seriously because of the nature of the forum. this is not a topic that many people have the capacity to discuss intelligently in general, so I find it amusing that the guy I quoted seems to think he will find a better discussion on it elsewhere. you have a good point though... I just joked around about it, despite the topic being something I feel pretty strongly about. however, I don't feel the need to discuss this at length in the thread because, as I like to say, opinions are like brains - everyone has one but they're not always useful.

This 'guy' gives people more credit than you I suppose. I think there are those who can debate this issue intelligently and thoughtfully but I don't think MFP is the place for those kind of debates. It's just the nature of the forum really, especially under the chit-chat title.

And I do think some people commenting have indeed treated the topic very lightly. *shrug* It's just how this place works.

There is a fair amount of debate around how the medical judgement might be made, alongside a fairly simplistic invocation of the Hippocratic Oath. Clinicians make these decisions regularly; what's a reasonable level of effort to put into the recovery of a patient who has been through serious physical trauma.

Having discussed with a few the decisions it's very clear that they're working on the basis of ongoing quality of life, and the effect on the individual. These discussions have mainly centred around those who have been through significant trauma through gunshot wound, anti-personnel IED or mines or anti-vehicle mines and IEDs. There are very different opinions amongst the clinicians I've worked with, nurses seem to advocate saving life regardless, emphasising the extra few months, or the chance to say goodbye, whereas surgeons seemed to be more of the opinion that the condition and quality of life in that period wasn't helpful to either the individual or those who would remember them afterwards. Particularly pertinent where the victim had children, when one has to consider whether it's best for the child to remember the parent as they left, or as they lay in a hospital bed.

I came to the conclusion that each case has to be considered on its own merits, the decision is never easy. For the topic in question, sometimes it's appropriate to assist the individual, sometimes it's not.

i whole-heartedly support euthanasia.

If it is quick and painless then yes. If its my time to go and I would otherwise be suffering then yeah I would totally ask to be put under.

Thou shalt not kill.

According to the New Oxford Annotated Bible (for college study), a more accurate translation is "thou shalt not murder," which does not forbid killing in war, capital punishment, euthanasia, or suicide. Just a fun fact.

Thou shalt not kill.

Just to be clear, that is NOT the correct translation of the Sixth Commandment. The correct translation is "Thou shall not murder". How the incorrect translation made it into current usage is beyond my level of knowledge.

This also explains how the Old Testament can call for capital punishment for various offenses while at the same time containing a commandment that would seem to rule it out. Killing is always killing, but it is only murder if it isn't properly justified.

Suicide is not Murder by either legal or religious doctrine.

If someone wants to kill themselves, they'll do it without help. Cry for attention much???

Okay, one more response...

What if someone no longer has control of the muscles in their arm/hand, meaning they can't handle a gun or a weapon that they could use to kill themselves? What if they can't feed or medicate themselves, which would make it impossible for them to ingest poison or overdose? What if they are physically incapable of committing suicide without help? What if they want to avoid unnecessary pain/the possibility of a failed attempt? Does that make their suffering less valid?

Ignorant post is mind-blowingly ignorant.

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