Before introducing a right to die, how about supporting the right to live

[Faith]

one's final days without shame? Doesn't this make sense...??

"The single most shocking fact in Choosing to Die was that 21 per cent of the clients that Dignitas has put to sleep did not have progressive or terminal illnesses, but suffered from a “weariness of lifeâ€￾. Dear God, if we adopt that criterion, every mum on the Friday afternoon of half-term would be queuing up for a merciful beaker of Paraquat."

While thousands of very sick people register for Dignitas, in the end most choose not to use it. Knowing you can go quickly and painlessly if you have to seems to provide the strength to stay and see it through ...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/allison-pearson/8578292/Allison-Pearson-Death-should-not-be-as-easy-as-going-to-the-dentist.html

 

[old grumpy]

Faith.. you are so right in what you have said. All the emphases has been placed on medication to extend the life of the human being, but what has not improved with that is the quality required to live out your life without shame.
Perhaps that is an important factor that needs addressing more so.

 

[poley]

I totally agree
I watched the Terry Pratchett programme and it sickened me to see that man begging for water and being distressed at his death.
I have a very sick cat and the vet suggests I do not 'let it suffer'- my mother is 92 and has been in pain for 30 years - she wants to live and so does the cat!!

 

[jack h]

I am Pro Choice at both ends of the scale Faith.
I would however like to see some severe prosecutions of the "human beings" who let elderly people get dehydrated and go without food because they can't be bothered.

 

[11UN]

I must disagree.

There are hundreds - I would so go so far as to say thousands - of people who are terminally ill, not just pensioners but those who in their twenties, thirties and forties, who wish to die with grace and dignity.

Perhaps, more should be done to research motor neurone disease, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, dementia and the hundreds of other diseases?

 

[erskine]

Hi Faith
There is a middle of the road answer that is available to all.
A dear friend had terminal stomach cancer that caused her unbearable paid. Mentally she was fully compus mentis.
The doctor rigged up a machine at her home whereby she could take sufficient morphine to relieve the pain while knowing that if she took too much then she would die.
My friend was able to exercise her free will in how much pain control she would access and her end was very peaceful with her husband by her bedside.
I think this is a very private and individual question that should not be discussed in a confrontational manner.
Best wishes.

 

[plato]

Hi Faith, I agree with Erskine- the morphine is to ease the pain even though it eventually sends people to 'sleep' It is not a direct action to bring about death but primarily just to ease the pain .Dr's have been doing this anyway.

 

[stevemxusa]

I simple want the freedom to do with my body what ever I choose to do as long as it does not harm other living beings, that's all. I don't need the Government or the enormous Pharmacological companies to decide what is right and what is wrong for me.

 

[Bear]

Using the mother as analogy,is stupid!
What does she have in common,with someone who has a terminal illness and has been in great pain for a long time,because the drugs don't work anymore!?

 

[Christine H]

The only thing to be said for it with regard to people suffering from depression is that no one has to find them hanging from a tree or two days after the long weekends started. Which is in and of itself a humane thing to do.

It is a conundrum as old as time itself, but I think that if I knew someone was dying anyway and they wanted to end it their way I would have to hide my doubts and fears and help them to go there.

There have to be strong safeguards to protect the vulnerable and weak from over zealous relatives and supposed friends, but I think we should have the chance to chose the time and way of our going under such circumstances.

It was only a couple of generations ago that family doctors would ensure that the end was peaceful and maybe hastened a little if they knew there was no chance. And I for one salute the doctor who helped an elderly relative of mine out of his unimaginable and terminal pain.

To me , he was a hero.