Physician assisted suicide

[La Paix]

So this topic is making some news again in Canada so I'm curious to your thoughts on the matter. Do you support physician assisted suicide? If so what type of parameters should be in place? Is there a minimum age that should be required? Does a terminal illness need to be diagnosed first? How about a psychiatric evaluation first? If you don't support it what are the reasons?

 

[Lamont Cranston]

I think I am not going to judge someone else who is looking into the abyss.

 

[ThatOneDude]

I've always said the 1 and only way I'd kill myself was due to a terminal illness that was a huge burden on my family.
That being said if someone wants to kill themselves , and have it not be messy, let them.

 

[Hwoarang]

The people demanding that suffering people who want to end their pain/lives must be kept alive and suffering should be charged with abuse.

 

[mysticmac]

It is far too personal of a decision for me to take a hard stance. That said, it should be legal and up to the patient/family and the doctor to determine if they think it is a proper thing to do.

 

[jason73]

as long as the person ending their life is mentally capable of making that decision of their own free will then i support assisted suicide.there has to be strict guidelines in place to stop anyone other than the person themselves making the final decision.

 

[canofsticks]

I support it, but that's not how I would do things...
My plan, as I've told all of my friends and family, is this: When the day comes when I'm face to face with my mortality, be it cancer, body just breaking down, mental illness...I'm going to go sky diving. I'll tandem jump with a professional and be super excited, "are we going to record it?" I'd ask. "Of course!" they'd reply. "Yay!"

We'd go up in the plane, all the while I'm jamming ACDC's Highway to Hell (because, fuck you, that's what I want the soundtrack of my death to sound like). We'd jump out of the plane. About 7 seconds in, I'd rotate in my harness so that my back is to the ground and I'm staring my instructor in the face. Then I'll say, "sorry." after a pause and a confused look by him, I'd unclick myself from the harness and plunged into the earth slamming my head into the ground at mach 7 speeds.
If the instructor even thinks about coming after me in some heroic aerodynamic plunge after me, I'd give him the bird and plunge even faster until slammmmmm I splatter all over someone's backyard during a BBQ.

Then when the grand kids asked "what happened to grandpa." They'll hear one hell of a badass story worthy of a hollywood movie featuring Kenny Powers

Edit: as evident, I've never skydove (word?) so my speed estimates may be off by a factor of mach 7. Plan still stands.

 

[ThatOneDude]

I'd like to do 150+ mph off a cliff with c4 in the trunk of some high end sports car. I'd like there to be multiple fuses on the car so when I impact the 50+ lbs of c4 go off.

 

[IschKabibble]

There's a really good documentary on Netflix about this called How to Die in Oregon. And another one from PBS called The Suicide Tourist. Amazingly fascinating stuff.

Video: The Suicide Tourist | Watch FRONTLINE Online | PBS Video

 

[Splinty]

Yes.
I will expand shortly. But yes.

 

[HEATH VON DOOM]

So you can put a dog to sleep because its suffering and you feel bad, but grandma has to suffer? Doesn't hospice pretty much do this when you are terminal anyway?

 

[Leigh]

I had an argument on facebook over this. The woman's reasoning was that our lives belong to God and it's not our life to take.

Even if that is your belief (LOL), my 2 counterpoints are:
1) Separation of church and state. Keep your superstitious mumbo jumbo out of the legal system.
2) Freedom of choice. You do you, I'll do me. As long as I'm not hurting anyone else, keep your nose out of my business.

 

[Hired Gun]

I worked as a Paramedic for about 10 yrs before becoming a Contractor. During that time I saw people at the worst moments of their lives having to deal with horrible horrible things to include people dying of terminal illnesses. I agree with some of the posters that if a person has a terminal illness and is in great pain if they choose to end their lives then they should be allowed to do so with the help of the medical profession. We treat our animals with better care and concern than we do people. Why should someone else tell me what I can and can't do in this situation? How do they know what my pain threshold is?

Let these people die with some dignity and end their suffering and the toll it takes on their loved ones.

 

[La Paix]

18-0 so far, much more lop sided than I expected.

 

[Ted Williams' head]

I never understood why people would be against it, other than the typical Bible thumpers who are against everything.

No, no, a physician can never assist in suicide, that would be cruel and barbaric! Nooo, that's not how we do it. Let's let the person suffer, let the disease totally eat them alive. Let's just take them off live support, so their body slowly starves to the death and withers away.

Everyone should have the right to die - to die with dignity. That's how I would want to go out: say my goodbyes and go quick and painlessly, not have my family watch my body and mind slowly being eaten away by a terminal illness, so one day they can see me finally die and evacuate my bowels all over my bed. No thanks.

 

[Ted Williams' head]

I had an argument on facebook over this. The woman's reasoning was that our lives belong to God and it's not our life to take.

Even if that is your belief (LOL), my 2 counterpoints are:
1) Separation of church and state. Keep your superstitious mumbo jumbo out of the legal system.
2) Freedom of choice. You do you, I'll do me. As long as I'm not hurting anyone else, keep your nose out of my business.

You're not going to talk any sense into a God-freak. They have their beliefs, and they're not happy unless everyone else shares those views.

 

[check it]

Doesn't hospice pretty much do this when you are terminal anyway?

hospice provides the ability to make you as comfortable as possible with morphine type drugs until your body naturally stops working. they don't speed up the process.
i've seen somebody die from brain cancer...the last few weeks were excruciating for that person. i am positive they would have opted to let go before their body called it quits if it was a choice.

 

[Sweets]

My dad got diagnosed with lung cancer in Oct last year. He had had it for a long time, it was stage 4 when diagnosed he was 72 and in poor condition physically. He was treated until March when he died, in hospital mostly because he reacted very badly to the first round of Chemo. He had a bad few months. He had previously discussed ending it if his health got too bad, given what the treatment did too him I wish it had been an option.

Allowing someone to go with dignity should be a basic human right..

 

[OhWhopDaChamp]

My dad got diagnosed with lung cancer in Oct last year. He had had it for a long time, it was stage 4 when diagnosed he was 72 and in poor condition physically. He was treated until March when he died, in hospital mostly because he reacted very badly to the first round of Chemo. He had a bad few months. He had previously discussed ending it if his health got too bad, given what the treatment did too him I wish it had been an option.

Allowing someone to go with dignity should be a basic human right..

you've had some rough going recently Biggie. Lets drink our way through it.

 

[Sweets]

you've had some rough going recently Biggie. Lets drink our way through it.

Friday through Sunday suit you??? Weirdly; for once, my colourful life has been a help, turns out I have fairly decent coping mechanisms..

 

[OhWhopDaChamp]

Friday through Sunday suit you??? Weirdly; for once, my colourful life has been a help, turns out I have fairly decent coping mechanisms..

After the fights on Friday we shall enjoy a Festivus!