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Assisted Suicide/Voluntary Euthanasia

Jazzy

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Should assisted suicide be legalised? Why or why not?
 
Yes it should for terminal illnesses.



I have always agreed with this. If a person who is in that situation wishes to go to a Euthanasia clinic they should be allowed to, and the people who assisted should not be prosecuted.
 
I think so, for people with terminal illnesses. If they don't want to suffer anymore, then they should have the right to end their life the same as a able-bodied peorson can, even if it means that someone has to help them with it.
 
Dogdays said:
Yes it should for terminal illnesses.



I have always agreed with this. If a person who is in that situation wishes to go to a Euthanasia clinic they should be allowed to, and the people who assisted should not be prosecuted.



I agree 100%
smile.png
 
It's actually legal over here and I totally agree with it. Personally I'd rather end my life with dignity as well when confronted with a bad terminal illness.
 
Cranos said:
It's actually legal over here and I totally agree with it. Personally I'd rather end my life with dignity as well when confronted with a bad terminal illness.
Here it isn't. The law states:

Crimes Act 1961 No 43 (as at 01 June 2010) said:
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years who—

  • (a) incites, counsels, or procures any person to commit suicide, if that person commits or attempts to commit suicide in consequence thereof; or

  • (
    cool.gif
    aids or abets any person in the commission of suicide.
And I don't agree with the legalization of assisted suicide. No-one should help another kill themselves even if begged. I admire those who will fight for their lives until they no longer can... regardless of whether or not it is a terminal illness or not.
 
Kasynlie said:
[quote name='Cranos']It's actually legal over here and I totally agree with it. Personally I'd rather end my life with dignity as well when confronted with a bad terminal illness.
Here it isn't. The law states:

Crimes Act 1961 No 43 (as at 01 June 2010) said:
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years who—

  • (a) incites, counsels, or procures any person to commit suicide, if that person commits or attempts to commit suicide in consequence thereof; or

  • (
    cool.gif
    aids or abets any person in the commission of suicide.
And I don't agree with the legalization of assisted suicide. No-one should help another kill themselves even if begged. I admire those who will fight for their lives until they no longer can... regardless of whether or not it is a terminal illness or not.[/quote]



But why force them to suffer for years to come?
 
Kasynlie said:
[quote name='Cranos']It's actually legal over here and I totally agree with it. Personally I'd rather end my life with dignity as well when confronted with a bad terminal illness.
Here it isn't. The law states:

Crimes Act 1961 No 43 (as at 01 June 2010) said:
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years who—

  • (a) incites, counsels, or procures any person to commit suicide, if that person commits or attempts to commit suicide in consequence thereof; or

  • (
    cool.gif
    aids or abets any person in the commission of suicide.
And I don't agree with the legalization of assisted suicide. No-one should help another kill themselves even if begged. I admire those who will fight for their lives until they no longer can... regardless of whether or not it is a terminal illness or not.[/quote]



So you would rather see someone die in agony?
 
Those who commit suicide are not evil, and those who attempt to take their own lives are not prosecuted. However, if someone is threatening to kill themselves it is your moral duty to try to stop them. You would not, for example, simply ignore a man standing on a ledge and threatening to jump simply because it is his choice; and you would definitely not assist in his suicide by pushing him. In the same way, you should try to help a person with a terminal illness, not help them to die.
 
Kasynlie said:
Those who commit suicide are not evil, and those who attempt to take their own lives are not prosecuted. However, if someone is threatening to kill themselves it is your moral duty to try to stop them. You would not, for example, simply ignore a man standing on a ledge and threatening to jump simply because it is his choice; and you would definitely not assist in his suicide by pushing him. In the same way, you should try to help a person with a terminal illness, not help them to die.



You really can't compare the two though. The first one still has the chance to make something of his life and be happy while the person with a terminal illness doesn't have a future anymore other than lying in a hospital bed. Also, the procedures you'd have to go through for assisted suicide make it impossible to do it without thinking it through. The circumstances in your examples are totally different and you shouldn't look at it that black and white. Try putting yourself in the shoes of the sick person.
 
Cranos said:
You really can't compare the two though. The first one still has the chance to make something of his life and be happy while the person with a terminal illness doesn't have a future anymore other than lying in a hospital bed. Also, the procedures you'd have to go through for assisted suicide make it impossible to do it without thinking it through. The circumstances in your examples are totally different and you shouldn't look at it that black and white. Try putting yourself in the shoes of the sick person.
I've been as close to it as possible without actually being terminally sick. Less than two years ago my mother passed away after fighting a terminal illness for almost 6 years. At not one point did she ever just give up no matter how much pain she was in. She outlived what the docters predicted multiple times and I can only wish I had half as much strength and determined as what she had.
 
Kasynlie said:
I've been as close to it as possible without actually being terminally sick. Less than two years ago my mother passed away after fighting a terminal illness for almost 6 years. At not one point did she ever just give up no matter how much pain she was in. She outlived what the docters predicted multiple times and I can only wish I had half as much strength and determined as what she had.



While that's of course something I very much respect, it isn't really an argument why people shouldn't be able to end their life at a point where the pain becomes too much. IMO it's inhuman to say to someone that you have to keep suffering because we won't allow you to die. Who are you to make that decision for them anyway?
 
Kasynlie said:
Those who commit suicide are not evil, and those who attempt to take their own lives are not prosecuted. However, if someone is threatening to kill themselves it is your moral duty to try to stop them. You would not, for example, simply ignore a man standing on a ledge and threatening to jump simply because it is his choice; and you would definitely not assist in his suicide by pushing him. In the same way, you should try to help a person with a terminal illness, not help them to die.



Suicide and terminal illness are not the same.



You can not compare those situations.
 
Modern palliative care is immensely flexible and effective, and helps to preserve quality of life as far as is possible. There is no need for terminally ill patients ever to be in pain, even at the very end of the course of their illness. It is always wrong to give up on life. The future which lies ahead for the terminally ill is of course terrifying, but society’s role is to help them live their lives as well as they can. This can take place through counselling, helping patients to come to terms with their condition.
 
Someone said one another forum I go to

'death is the ONLY certainty of life'



You talk about people being brave to suffer to the end.



But I personally think the people that decide enough is enough... They are extremely brave.
 
If I had kids and were suffering from a terminal illness, I would fight it out to the end. What sort of father would I be to my children if I were to just quit on life, no matter what the situation is? Not a very good one in my opinion. I would like my kids to know that their father fought for his life for them and showed them that no matter what you're going through there is always a reason to live.
 
But they aren't 'quiting'



It takes a hell load of guts and planning to go to a Euthanasia clinic.



People that do so don't just quit.
 
Kasynlie said:
If I had kids and were suffering from a terminal illness, I would fight it out to the end. What sort of father would I be to my children if I were to just quit on life, no matter what the situation is? Not a very good one in my opinion. I would like my kids to know that their father fought for his life for them and showed them that no matter what you're going through there is always a reason to live.



That's fine if you want to make that decision for yourself, but you shouldn't force that on others. Besides, you act like people with a terminal illness just want to drop dead the moment they've been diagnosed with it. Assisted suicide is something they use on the very end when the pain gets too much and there isn't anything to life anymore except for a hospital bed and slowly counting the days you have left.
 
Having the family take part in such a decision (which is most likely to happen) can be an unbearable burden: many may resent a loved one’s decision to die, and would be either emotionally scared or estranged by the prospect of being in any way involved with their death. Assisted suicide also introduces a new danger, that the terminally ill may be pressured into ending their lives by others who are not prepared to support them through their illness. Even the most well regulated system would have no real way to ensure that this did not happen.
 
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