What's your opinion of assisted suicide?
This can be very difficult as there are so many variables. Could I watch a loved one suffer? Probably not but then would I be like Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights and prefer a suffering Catherine to no Catherine? Analgesia and new technologies mean that even people in agony can find some relief. Technologies are meaning locked in people are on the verge of being able to communicate and I think within the next decade will be able to return to being actively involved in their life. The other issue is that despite every safeguard we can never be sure that granny isn't being ever so slightly influenced because the grandchild is financially over burdened and care of granny just adds to that. It is a slippery slope so I say I am against assisting someone to end their life. As a mental health nurse in practice, I encountered suicidal people all the time. I have no thoughts on people ending their own life, that is their choice.
It's generally much more humane than the un-assisted alternative.
I agree it should be an option for people that are suffering. What bothers me about it is in both countries (Canada/U.S.) it becomes poltical football, much like abortion. A good follow up question is when are people going to get there noses out of other people's business?
I think its a good idea because being alive isn't the same as living. we including myself do it for our pets all the time for their benefit. I would have done it for my father, my sister and myself.
I am adamantly in favor of it, having watched people I love suffer a great deal at the end. There is No reason not to give them a better exit than that, other than religion.
An Alzheimers like condition runs in my family. I see no reason to force someone to exist in a human warehouse, not even knowing who they are, for years just to satisfy some random stranger's need to follow God's plan.
On a side note, I also resent that spellcheck always forces me to capitalize god.
It's badly needed. I suspect the rich have been enjoying this essential humanity for a long time and I imagine the instruction to go ahead would come in the form of a nod or a wink and the family doctor, who's also a family friend would understand and act.
I wonder if that's why, when famous people die they always seem to be surrounded by friends and family.
It would never be admitted to of course, but I have no doubt the rich enjoy an easier, more dignified passing.
Spot on... otherwise we have to understand that all the Hollywood greats, seem to have impeccable timing, wait until all the guests are present, then croak. It's been going on for decades.
I recall an elderly doctor I knew being very upset when he realized after assisting a colleague with their passing that he now was the sole survivor of the friends who had made this agreement with each other when they had graduated decades earlier. Who would do the deed for him he wondered aloud. Of course it has always existed as an option for the wealthy and the connected, the rest suffer in agony to put a good face on the belief that it doesn't happen.
That is very sad.
My father chose that. He couldn't breathe any more and had many other health issues. It's a long process. You can't just say you don't want to live any more.
I'm all in favor of it. Death with dignity.
I fully support a person's right to die on their own terms.
Having seen my Nana, at 98, semi conscious for six months in a nursing home, being fed, cleaned and treated like a frail life sized doll - YES. One of the most awful memories my brother has is of being there when she came to, and her murmuring " Am I still here ?" Not knowing he was in the room. He said the pain in her voice was awful. The nursing staff were great, the home lovely, but she was so tired of life. And it was extended too long.
Quite a burden to place on someone else, though.
In general I am in favor of it. However, some people are not cool. I would be sad if it was used to end someone's life against their will, because that person had become inconvenient to their family.
Yes, in the cases that the pain and suffering are too extreme and if death is inevitable. I can't imagine sitting around in pain waiting to die.
Absolutely for it. I can imagine many circumstances where I would not be happy to just exist.
This is a real struggle inside healthcare and especially hospitals. A lot of unnecessary suffering both from the side of the patient & family could and would be avoided if everyone had a living will. It's so easy to set in place, yes I can hear people saying but families argue against it and yes that does happen, usually that's when feelings about end of life have not been discussed, openly and honestly. You really can be in control of (the end) of your life, trust me the health care workers are relieved when a living will appears. Write yours today, I have mine and my siblings know exactly what to do......I also advocated for my parents when I knew it was the end, yes it broke my heart but no one suffered, and my siblings were thankful I knew how to converse about their care.