[Politics] Euthanasia

[dazzer6666]

100% yes. Watched my younger sister literally waste away with terminal cancer. It’s inhumane. Let people make their own decision providing they can. Genuinely thinking of ways I could help myself along if it came to it.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I’m happy to sign a DNR but I’m not happy about abuse. It all sounds very neat and tidy talking about it now, but like anything else it is open to abuse. Shipman proved that, and even during his trial, many of his patients were declaring what a lovely doctor he was.
Dementia can come on suddenly as a result of a stroke, so you may not be in the right frame of mind to make an informed decision.
I have a last power of attorney with my husband, who I trust implicitly, but my children also have a say.

 

[albionfan37]

You wouldn’t let an animal suffer as long as we allow people to endure and carry on regardless

 

[Triggaaar]

Yes please, I want a one way ticket to Switzerland if I get Dementia or better yet somewhere closer to home.

The problem is, once you have dementia, will you still feel the same?

 

[Littlemo]

Personally I put no. It’s not a hard no but my problem is that for any system you put in place, there are people will abuse it.

The problem with this is that if people try get round it or subvert it, then you are talking someone’s life, not a bit of financial fraud or minor crime they can get punished for and move on, which is the case for more systems.

There are sadly plenty of people in this country who would try to convince elderly parents etc into ending their life or worse, where they are POA and have the ability to make decisions like that, they will do it when it might not be in the patients interest.

There may be people who would terminate their life way too early because they will worry they are going to be a burden on their family (justified or not) or friends.

That’s before you get into the very long reeds of mental illness and perfectly healthy people who want to end their lives on those grounds.

It’s not that some of those things cannot be resolved BUT the one thing that can’t be, is to have a system that allows euthanasia and not have that system abused. No safeguards can exist that would stop that happening.

 

[dazzer6666]

Personally I put no. It’s not a hard no but my problem is that for any system you put in place, there are people will abuse it.

The problem with this is that if people try get round it or subvert it, then you are talking someone’s life, not a bit of financial fraud or minor crime they can get punished for and move on, which is the case for more systems.

There are sadly plenty of people in this country who would try to convince elderly parents etc into ending their life or worse, where they are POA and have the ability to make decisions like that, they will do it when it might not be in the patients interest.

There may be people who would terminate their life way too early because they will worry they are going to be a burden on their family (justified or not) or friends.

That’s before you get into the very long reeds of mental illness and perfectly healthy people who want to end their lives on those grounds.

It’s not that some of those things cannot be resolved BUT the one thing that can’t be, is to have a system that allows euthanasia and not have that system abused. No safeguards can exist that would stop that happening.

Depends…..I can see a point where it’s allowed in certain (and limited) circumstances. For example patients with terminal illnesses who, whilst of sound mind, elect for it at the point they become - for example - unable to eat/drink/speak/breathe unaided and where death is certain within a relatively short timeframe.

 

[Eeyore]

For two years, Mum’s dementia condition deteriorated to the point that she almost became a shell that spoke repetitive and unintelligible words and clearly lived in constant, incontinent and childlike distress. I wanted her to die. She didn't deserve it after the life she had lead. And I'm sure if she could have pressed a button she would have.

I don't know how it would work, but I cannot fathom a society that puts pets 'to sleep' (kills them) and says how it was the right thing, but cannot comprehend that perhaps sane minded humans might want to be spared the same suffering that we take animals on their final journeys to end.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

The problem is, once you have dementia, will you still feel the same?

As I saw, in the home where my mother was, there are some people who are happy in their own little world. Dementia affects people in many different ways.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Watching my grandmother being taken piece by piece as a result of Alzheimers clarified my mind on this a long time ago.

Should I go down that road I'd rather be able to deal with things at a time and place of my choosing, but If it had to be a one way ticket to Switzerland then so be it.

She wouldn't have wanted to end up as she did, and I won't let it happen to me.

I was the same with my Grandmother. She had a very strong heart but her mind had totally gone so she was a shell for her last five years. It wasn’t a life, at best it was an existence.

She was a strong woman who would have hated how her final years played out.

If it is still on the iPlayer I would recommend watching the Terry Pratchett documentary from a few years ago on this subject.

 

[chip]

Obviously it should be legal, while being approved by trained medical professionals.

If I received some terrible news that the rest of my days I'm going to lose my body, mind or be in extreme pain, I'm ending it before it gets to that point one way or another. Would be far more civilised to peacefully go under a doctor's supervision, rather than some poor bastard having to scoop me up into biohazard bags.

why do you think this is a "medical" decision? In what whay do you think theyy should be trained, by whom and to do what?

It should be an individual's choice, not that of some medical professional.

 

[Iggle Piggle]

100% yes. Watched my younger sister literally waste away with terminal cancer. It’s inhumane. Let people make their own decision providing they can. Genuinely thinking of ways I could help myself along if it came to it.

100% this. I live life to the full because one day I know I won't be able to. The day I'm confined to bed, can't do anything else and am waiting to die, well put me down like you would an animal and remember me for all the good things in life.

For the record, I've had and recovered from cancer. f*** doing that again in my late 70s or 80s.

People should make their own decisions.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

The problem is, once you have dementia, will you still feel the same?

British or American, possibly Canadian, chap recently flew to Switzerland to end his life after getting his dementia diagnosis. Having seen my dad go down with it, it's Dignitas for me if I go down the same road.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

why do you think this is a "medical" decision? In what whay do you think theyy should be trained, by whom and to do what?

It should be an individual's choice, not that of some medical professional.

Is that including those with mental health problems?

 

[amexer]

As I get older I am more towards yes. What sums me up is when I have recieved a couple of calls in last 3 years saying much loved elderly relative has died suddenly and when I have got over initial shock I think what away to go no suffering for years

 

[North of Robertsbridge]

I’ve told the missus to luzz me off Beachy Head when no one is looking

 

[Blue3]

Yes but no but don’t know

The yes is in general I am in complete agreement with individuals choosing when they depart this mortal coil in a way that is pain free.
currently Switzerland is the only country in Europe where its legal provided the individual meets medical requirements and passes scrutiny from two doctors
But here’s the no bit what about anyone who for what ever reason chooses to end their life not meeting the medical requirement , they are currently left with two options seek help and not committing suicide or going ahead with suicide which might or might not be successful and the consequences be that the people left behind and those who find and those who clear up the aftermath
So that leaves I don’t know

 

[Questions]

This. I’ve never been worried by those who express fears that they will just turn off the life support to free up the bed, or to harvest the organs, BUT it obviously needs to be strictly controlled with lots of checks and balances.

no doctor I’ve ever met would play fast and loose with it, ….. but then there was Harold Shipman.

I don’t believe he did it

 

[Motogull]

I’ve told the missus to luzz me off Beachy Head when no one is looking

Seems a bit harsh on the people that find and retrieve the body though.

I'd happy stand in front of a firing squad.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Yes. With a load of safeguards.

This.

I believe the right to end one’s own life (and suffering) should be sacrisanc.

However, getting to a point where all the checks, balances and safeguards are full proof would be a huge challenge.

 

[Weststander]

As I saw, in the home where my mother was, there are some people who are happy in their own little world. Dementia affects people in many different ways.

One of the safeguards I’d envisage is the person in question making the explicit decision, previously when considered by two separate doctors to have made it when having mental capacity.

An obvious danger is the beneficiaries on a later death, not wanting to see their future inheritance lost in care/nursing costs.