Discussion of the Week: Euthanasia

[BnLM5]

I am unable to express my thoughts on or about this subject at the moment...Reason unknown... To many thoughts to ponder right now for me.


However I have a new nick name for you Eejj it's Eeyore!

Funny he's the unbelievably lovable donkey

who is dismally gloomy in spirit

most every time you see/hear him. :

[eejit101]

Eeyore101.

NDN - change it up babycakes

[GloBug]

well im all for it. thats what i want for myself. my wife is against it so it might be tough unless i am in alots of pain. i think it should be legal. but thats me good luck it getting past the senate if they tried to legalize it. poker has a better chance then that. lol

[freeringo]

What is living good for?

Too have fun and be happy.

As far as the topic goes.

Euphanasia is legal, its called drug overdose.

The baby boomers are getting old and you will hear about alot of people ODing in the years to come.

Make sure you got your affairs in order and your family taken care of and
enjoy the ride.

It's hard for me to believe or even listen to any debate about how you won't get into Heaven if you take your own life.

How can easing your pain and wanting to enter into the spirit world be a sin?

This coming from someone who went to Catholic school for 6 years.

[navuta]

I would like to die in the same way as Aldous Huxley


His wife inject him a large dose of LSD...
so... people should just do what they whant with their life...as long they dont disturb others...
Long life for freedom...

[taylovesthebeatles]

Okay. So. Euthanasia. It's a tricky subject for me to really be satisfied with a clear position on it for myself, as I'm generally in favor of life, as I'll explain further in my response to the abortion thread and as I've already explained somewhat in my response to the earlier discussion on capital punishment. This most may be a bit of a nonsensical ramble, so for that I apologize ahead of time.

I should also add a disclaimer that my views have a somewhat religious basis, in that I believe in a God who values all human life, which has been made in the image of that God. So take that for what you will.

Having said that, basically I don't think that humanity should be able to "play God" as it were and decide who lives and dies. Additionally, I don't really think humans should be in control of deciding when a person "deserves to" or "should" die, for whatever reason, be it committing a crime or being an "inconvenient burden" or whatever, like an unborn baby.

However, I also believe that everything in life happens for a reason, and if a person feels that God's method of ending their suffering is to provide them with the ability and circumstances to end it with euthanasia, then there may be some merit to that. I don't know really. I do know that suffering from something beyond your control sucks, and I can only imagine what that pain and toil would be like for someone who was so severely affected by it that it completely took their quality of life away. In these types of situations, which is something I'd probably want euthanasia limited to, or at least I'm going to for the sake of argument, I don't think that assisted suicide is by any stretch of the imagination an "easy way out", and is (hopefully, at least) never a decision that is come to lightly.

At the same time, I know that I and I'm sure many others do wish that my death would coincide with that of my beloved, as that way neither of us would have to live without each other and we would die in each others' arms. But that's probably wishful thinking, and it seems like the only way to ensure that would happen is through some means like assisted suicide, which as I've said I'm not entirely morally comfortable with the idea.

So in the end, I really don't know where I stand on the issue. I guess that at the end of the day, I'm still very much in favor of life over the option of death, but I don't personally feel it as equated and black and white as my views on the importance of life when it comes to abortion or the death penalty.

[0maxpower0]

Man, some heavy topics here on NDN...this euthanasia one defiantely takes the cake. Fact is, how can anyone, particularly an established government, tell you what you can and cannot do when it comes to your body?!? If youre not hurting anyone else with you actions, how can they even get away with it. I equate it to abortion; yea its something people might not agree with, might not understand, not do themselves, but ya know, its your body its your life. As for the subjective implications like heaven and afterlife and all that; all i can say is it would certainly suck if the doctor that assissted you in easing pain went to hell because of it :-p. Or that you went to purgatory because of your decision. Im not really that religious, and i kinda agree with EEj in the sense that i think nothing spectacular happens when u die, u just stop being conscious. I think that no one can really judge the amount of pain someone goes through everyday, its hard to transfer yourself into someone elses life, so its pretty hard to judge. I think the underlined arguement in this discussion is, does an individual have the right to do what they wish of themselves, as long as they dont harm anyone else. Fact is they do have the right, so i think its absurd that this kind thing is illegal, despite the obvious regressions that come with the thought.

[Pokerkitty6]

I feel Euthanasia should be legal. We are very humane about our animals when they suffer and I feel we should be just as humane when a human suffers. Some people want to die with dignity, instead of suffering, wearing a diaper, and tubes for food. My uncle passed away last year and in the end he asked me just to shot him, end it. He fought in a war and yet I'm seeing him with no control over his own body. I told him I would take him to a better place and contacted Hospice immediately. Many family members were upset with me because they thought I had given up on him. Never would that happen. I knew he was going to die and I didn't want him to die in a diaper, screaming in a hospital where they could do nothing else for him. The night he was transferred to hospice he passed away at approx. 2am. The family was called and we spent many hours with him. I sat on his bed with him and told him how good he looked. They had bathed him and shaved him the minute he got to hospice. He had comforable pj's on. He looked comfortable as he passed away with his diginity in tact. I gave him a kiss, told him I loved him and said goodbye. He suffered for at least a month before all of this happened. If he or I could have ended it legally, we would have, no doubt. I have a senior friend who also fought in the war. Back then they would give you one cynide (spelled wrong) pill in case you were captured by the enemy and didn't want to be tortured for information, you could take the pill to end it. I'm not sure if they did this for everyone, but they did it for this man. He still has the pill and has told his kids, in the end if he is suffering, he will take his pill. His pill, his choice.

[freeringo]

Okay. So. Euthanasia. It's a tricky subject for me to really be satisfied with a clear position on it for myself, as I'm generally in favor of life, as I'll explain further in my response to the abortion thread and as I've already explained somewhat in my response to the earlier discussion on capital punishment. This most may be a bit of a nonsensical ramble, so for that I apologize ahead of time.

I should also add a disclaimer that my views have a somewhat religious basis, in that I believe in a God who values all human life, which has been made in the image of that God. So take that for what you will.

Having said that, basically I don't think that humanity should be able to "play God" as it were and decide who lives and dies. Additionally, I don't really think humans should be in control of deciding when a person "deserves to" or "should" die, for whatever reason, be it committing a crime or being an "inconvenient burden" or whatever, like an unborn baby.

However, I also believe that everything in life happens for a reason, and if a person feels that God's method of ending their suffering is to provide them with the ability and circumstances to end it with euthanasia, then there may be some merit to that. I don't know really. I do know that suffering from something beyond your control sucks, and I can only imagine what that pain and toil would be like for someone who was so severely affected by it that it completely took their quality of life away. In these types of situations, which is something I'd probably want euthanasia limited to, or at least I'm going to for the sake of argument, I don't think that assisted suicide is by any stretch of the imagination an "easy way out", and is (hopefully, at least) never a decision that is come to lightly.

At the same time, I know that I and I'm sure many others do wish that my death would coincide with that of my beloved, as that way neither of us would have to live without each other and we would die in each others' arms. But that's probably wishful thinking, and it seems like the only way to ensure that would happen is through some means like assisted suicide, which as I've said I'm not entirely morally comfortable with the idea.

So in the end, I really don't know where I stand on the issue. I guess that at the end of the day, I'm still very much in favor of life over the option of death, but I don't personally feel it as equated and black and white as my views on the importance of life when it comes to abortion or the death penalty.

Humans are hunters by nature.
There for we are animals.
Animals choose who lives and who dies.
If you can't keep up with the herd you die.
If you are week you die.
Governments have no say in it and religion has no say in it.
Nature takes care of itself.