Right to die?

[mum22ttc#3]

But I sometimes wonder if ANYBODY who commitas suicide is. Surely the people that are wanting to die with assistance, are depressed to some level? xxxx

I think that sometimes, in cases of terminal illnesses it may just be that they have come to accept the fact that they are going to die and would just prefer to choose to do it in a more dignified way. Plus if it was me Im not sure I would want my family to see me go through a terminal illness for months or even years

But then again Im sure that in some cases they would be depressed to a certain level, I think that if I knew I was going to die it would be enough to make me depressed just knowing that I would be leaving my kids behind

Its a hard one

 

[LoraLoo]

But I sometimes wonder if ANYBODY who commitas suicide is. Surely the people that are wanting to die with assistance, are depressed to some level? xxxx

I think that sometimes, in cases of terminal illnesses it may just be that they have come to accept the fact that they are going to die and would just prefer to choose to do it in a more dignified way. Plus if it was me Im not sure I would want my family to see me go through a terminal illness for months or even years

But then again Im sure that in some cases they would be depressed to a certain level, I think that if I knew I was going to die it would be enough to make me depressed just knowing that I would be leaving my kids behind

Its a hard one

It really is, and i guess its hard for us trying to imagine what its like or them too, it doesnt bear thinking about really does it xxx

 

[Mrs Mayhem]

I firmly believe in the right to die. I believe that it should apply to adults only, who suffer from a degenerative disease with no possible positive outcome or for those on life support where there isn't any hope of a successful recovery.
I believe that it should be made clear that it is for those of sound mind who can demonstrate the capacity to decide, obviously those on life support cannot give consent, so it would need to be down to at least 2 or 3 relatives in my opinion.

I also believe in advance directives, made under legal terms for those of sound mind, with regular reviews in place every few years.

I do not believe in this for children. In my opinion, only those with the capacity to consent (apart from life support as stated above) should be able to do so and children do not have the capacity to consent to something so huge.

 

[AppleBlossom]

I don't think it's a case of depression. It's different to be suffering so badly that there is no real reason to carry on. If the only outcome is death after going through such pain then why put yourself through it? I think it's more of a case of needing that relief and I suppose, when you're in that position, it just seems logical to end yours and everyone else's suffering

 

[Linzi]

I know with children its a very difficult decision to make but if a child is suffering so badly then is it right when an adult would have the choice?

 

[vaniilla]

I'm for the right to die also. I don't see what good it does anybody to live with a terminal, degenerative and most of the time, painful illness. The person with the illness suffers, having to go through pain, take medication to only delay the inevitable. Their loved ones have to watch them suffer knowing they can't do anything to help. I think in the right circumstances, it should be a practise here in the UK.

Couldn't have it put it better

 

[Linzi]

Slightly off topic (kind of) but what happens legally if you take your partner or whatever over to Switzerland for assisted suicide?

I thought you got charged, there was the Diane Purdy (Think that was her name?) case where her husband was fighting in court to take her over there & not be prosecuted when he came back. I think they fought for so long about it, that in the end she died in this country before she got her wish to go to Switzerland.

But they just didn't really seem to mention anything in the programme is all.

xxx

 

[fantastica]

Linzi, I think you do get prosecuted if you take them over, although not 100% sure.

I don't know how I feel about it tbh, in princiapal I suppose I am for the right to die, but there are so many complications in actually creating a law for it.

Also...really hope this doesn't sound too stupid, and I don't mean to simplify the situation...but if you wanted to die, couldn't you just do it yourself anyway?

 

[mystika802]

I think if someone can tell you they want to die, and have an actual just reason to say so ie. old and in pain and just waiting to pass anyway then yes, i agree with it 100%. In the same situation, I would want someone to help me out too, and if my husband or loved one was in severe pain day to day and basically waiting to die I would want to be strong enough to help them to.
There is for sure a gray area when it comes to children, I can't even come up with an opinion on that because Ive never been in or seen someone else in that situation but I do believe that in court everything should be taken into consideration, what was the child's life like etc.

 

[Blah11]

I'm for the right to die also. I don't see what good it does anybody to live with a terminal, degenerative and most of the time, painful illness. The person with the illness suffers, having to go through pain, take medication to only delay the inevitable. Their loved ones have to watch them suffer knowing they can't do anything to help. I think in the right circumstances, it should be a practise here in the UK.

I agree, when somebody is on life support and has no quality of life etc they allow for the machines to be turned off, medication to be withdrawn etc. I dont see why Assisted suicide is much different except it would be the individuals choice, which surely should be acceptable, if our next of kin can make the decision for us in situations like that?

because thats not ending life, it's just not prolonging it. It's quite a complicated decision to stop medication and other things and usually the doctors wait until the patient shows signs of being close to the end of life (like not drinking or eating, breathing changes, they sleep pretty much 24/7 etc).




I dont know how I feel about it. I think probably it should be kept illegal as there's just too many 'what ifs' about assisted suicide. Like what if the patient was bullied into it by relatives or thought they were a burden on their family etc?

 

[Blah11]

Linzi, I think you do get prosecuted if you take them over, although not 100% sure.

I don't know how I feel about it tbh, in princiapal I suppose I am for the right to die, but there are so many complications in actually creating a law for it.

Also...really hope this doesn't sound too stupid, and I don't mean to simplify the situation...but if you wanted to die, couldn't you just do it yourself anyway?

yeah, i don't really understand that either. Surely if they were that ill they'd have access to a lot of medications and strong pain killers anyway

 

[mum22ttc#3]

Linzi, I think you do get prosecuted if you take them over, although not 100% sure.

I don't know how I feel about it tbh, in princiapal I suppose I am for the right to die, but there are so many complications in actually creating a law for it.

Also...really hope this doesn't sound too stupid, and I don't mean to simplify the situation...but if you wanted to die, couldn't you just do it yourself anyway?

yeah, i don't really understand that either. Surely if they were that ill they'd have access to a lot of medications and strong pain killers anyway

Yer not sure I understand that one either. Unless your like paralysed (sp) or something as in the emmerdale case (Jackson etc) I cant see why you couldn't do it yourselves. Pheraps a stupid question but not sure why?

 

[Nibblenic]

Linzi, I think you do get prosecuted if you take them over, although not 100% sure.

I don't know how I feel about it tbh, in princiapal I suppose I am for the right to die, but there are so many complications in actually creating a law for it.

Also...really hope this doesn't sound too stupid, and I don't mean to simplify the situation...but if you wanted to die, couldn't you just do it yourself anyway?

yeah, i don't really understand that either. Surely if they were that ill they'd have access to a lot of medications and strong pain killers anyway

Yer not sure I understand that one either. Unless your like paralysed (sp) or something as in the emmerdale case (Jackson etc) I cant see why you couldn't do it yourselves. Pheraps a stupid question but not sure why?

I can only speak from personal experience. Howeer my Gran would only get enough morphine for 2 weeks. Then what if you get it wrong? What if it results in just making yourself more ill and not getting the desired result. What about the loved one that needs to find you? What if you dont get found for days and the cat eats your fingers!

I think deciding to die and comitting suicide are very different things

 

[moomin_troll]

ive been thinking about doing a thread about euthanasia myself for quiet awhile.

i believe we all have the right to die when we want and ive always believed euthanasia should be legalised in this country.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

Linzi, I think you do get prosecuted if you take them over, although not 100% sure.

I don't know how I feel about it tbh, in princiapal I suppose I am for the right to die, but there are so many complications in actually creating a law for it.

Also...really hope this doesn't sound too stupid, and I don't mean to simplify the situation...but if you wanted to die, couldn't you just do it yourself anyway?

yeah, i don't really understand that either. Surely if they were that ill they'd have access to a lot of medications and strong pain killers anyway

Yer not sure I understand that one either. Unless your like paralysed (sp) or something as in the emmerdale case (Jackson etc) I cant see why you couldn't do it yourselves. Pheraps a stupid question but not sure why?

I can only speak from personal experience. Howeer my Gran would only get enough morphine for 2 weeks. Then what if you get it wrong? What if it results in just making yourself more ill and not getting the desired result. What about the loved one that needs to find you? What if you dont get found for days and the cat eats your fingers!

I think deciding to die and comitting suicide are very different things

I do agree that committing sucide and deciding to die should be 2 different things complety. I think that it should be an individual choice when in the right straight of mind, as suicide is not always that (regarding depression etc)

 

[LeeBee]

I think it's interesting that there a places where we can choose whether someone else dies (death penalty) yet we can't make the choice for ourselves.

I can't say I'd be 100% on board with legal assisted suicide though. With the exception of a few circumstances (terminally ill, very bad quality of life, ect.) it just seems that most of the time a person contemplating suicide would not be in the right state of mind to make that kind of decision. I would imagine that if you spoke with a few different people who had attempted suicide in the past, more than one might be glad it didn't work out.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

I think it's interesting that there a places where we can choose whether someone else dies (death penalty) yet we can't make the choice for ourselves.

I can't say I'd be 100% on board with legal assisted suicide though. With the exception of a few circumstances (terminally ill, very bad quality of life, ect.) it just seems that most of the time a person contemplating suicide would not be in the right state of mind to make that kind of decision. I would imagine that if you spoke with a few different people who had attempted suicide in the past, more than one might be glad it didn't work out.

Im assuming that when most people are talking as to whether they agree with euthanasia (sp) they are speaking about the exceptional circumstances eg terminal illnesses, no quality of life etc. I dont think there would be many people that would think it right that you could use this option as a way of committing suicide for things such as depression, like you say they wouldnt be in the right state of mind and would more than likely not choose the option if they were thinking more clearly.

 

[LeeBee]

I think it's interesting that there a places where we can choose whether someone else dies (death penalty) yet we can't make the choice for ourselves.

I can't say I'd be 100% on board with legal assisted suicide though. With the exception of a few circumstances (terminally ill, very bad quality of life, ect.) it just seems that most of the time a person contemplating suicide would not be in the right state of mind to make that kind of decision. I would imagine that if you spoke with a few different people who had attempted suicide in the past, more than one might be glad it didn't work out.

Im assuming that when most people are talking as to whether they agree with euthanasia (sp) they are speaking about the exceptional circumstances eg terminal illnesses, no quality of life etc. I dont think there would be many people that would think it right that you could use this option as a way of committing suicide for things such as depression, like you say they wouldnt be in the right state of mind and would more than likely not choose the option if they were thinking more clearly.

gotcha... thanks!

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

I think it's interesting that there a places where we can choose whether someone else dies (death penalty) yet we can't make the choice for ourselves.

I can't say I'd be 100% on board with legal assisted suicide though. With the exception of a few circumstances (terminally ill, very bad quality of life, ect.) it just seems that most of the time a person contemplating suicide would not be in the right state of mind to make that kind of decision. I would imagine that if you spoke with a few different people who had attempted suicide in the past, more than one might be glad it didn't work out.

In switzerland a doctor actually asseses the persons state of mind. They have to be deemed mentally competant and then a doctor has to sign to say it can go ahead. Also before giving the lethal drink they are asked several times if they are sure they want to do this.

I think assisted suicide should be legal in this country but under strict rules like switzerland. x

 

[LeeBee]

Does anyone know if Switzerland is the only country that does this?