assisted death

[madchives]

looked around and not sure where to post this so,,,
the cross country radio show's topic is
What do you think of the government's proposed law on assisted death?

it is a live phone-in show, and i always enjoy listening to what canadians and others think about the topic,
extra special this week is susan mcreynold as host (still miss rex though)
is 2 hours long and no news breaks,,, so if you listen expect your brain to be involved
http://www.cbc.ca/liveradio/popup/index.html?networkKey=cbc_radio_one&programKey=ott awa

[madchives]

personally i think as long as i have some brain activity, i'd rather be alive

[Mia001]

it is a very complicated topic ....and i think some drs already use their own version of this so called '' help to die'' IMHO


P.S. sorry Madchives, i didn't listen to the show, but i will for sure.....have a great day !

[lecale]

personally i think as long as i have some brain activity, i'd rather be alive

What if you were experiencing constant pain that could not be relived by drugs, and the effects of the drugs themselves? Would you still want to stick around? What if you had dementia and could not communicate with anyone and only lived to terrorize your aides? Would you still want that?

[TaraF]

I don't think any other human being has the right to tell another what the "right way" to do anything is, that's to live or die. It's a wonderful option that should be available to a consenting adult. It's implemented in countries around the world and with success, there is no reason that it couldn't be done here as well.

Personally, my vision (if I were to seek medically assisted death) would be that I would want to enter a facility set up like a hotel, where I could check in there for a week before my planned death and enjoy my last moments with family. No hospitals. No nurses. Just a relaxed atmosphere. And within that atmosphere, with my favourite music playing in the background, holding my loved one's hand, I could slip away peacefully when the Dr comes to make the injection.

I understand the legalities around that would be numerous and thus a facility like that probably would never come to fruition, but I really believe that we could bring dignity in death to those that are choosing to end their lives.

[amira84]

I thought assisted death is for those people who are really miserably sick in their last days. Like if they are in coma and stuff like this. And only then there should be an option of assisted death.

[Shwa Girl]

personally i think as long as i have some brain activity, i'd rather be alive

agree
don't want them to murder me

and the supreme court deciding. no. they are not supreme. they made a mistake, i think.

and this is not new
back in history the greeks and roman empire killed those that were not useful and sacrificed babies too

we are repeating history

John Donne wrote a poem about a dying loved one, stating
Do not go gently into that good night [good night = death]
Rage. Rage. Against the dying of the light [dying of the light is the process of death]

[Mia001]

imho, they won't tell , but it is something that already exist....they call it ''palliatives cares''....you* are old, you are sick, you are not usefull to the society (ito) , why spend care and money on you ????
so there are '' palliatives cares'' so, we** put you in a room with no food, no water( just a little blue sponge on a stick to humidify your mouth every now and then) and morphyne, ....depending on how strong your heart is....sooner or later, you die....that'S it ....
so you are fooled and so does you family and closed one....



* anyone
** medical staff

sorry.............i think i no longer trust drs and nurses

[Arvilish]

I am going to step in and say that people should have rights to make decision on their life, on the basis of autonomy. Unfortunately, ignorance prevails and general public is quite naive about this topic. This is not simply about, 'hey dr. kill me'. Physician and psychiatrist have to access other aspect of patients before making such decision, and these include accessing the capability of patients, circumstances, etc before decision is being make. What we have here is doing no harm vs autonomy.

In the end, this should NOT be about what YOU think but what THESE patients think about their lives. I believe no one will ever understand other goes through.

[seylz_gurl]

Fear that it might become a "duty to die" instead of "right to die" .

[Mia001]

Fear that it might become a "duty to die" instead of "right to die" .

i think that's soon coming next....

[amira84]

My grandma and my aunt were in coma before they died.
My granda has alzeihmers (spelling?) And she was in coma for atleast 2 months. It was painful for our family to see her in that condition. She was very very old and evryone knew that if she gets out of the coma, it'll will be very hard for her to live. Yet no one wanted her to die. We were just praying to God that He just makes her out of her misery. It's HIS will if He wanted to make her better or if He wanted her to come back to Him. Eventually she died.

My aunt had diabetes and both her lungs were not working and she was in coma for a very long time. Same story with her and eventully she died.

My grand mother in law is very old (90's i guess). Not able to move, not in coma though. She doesnt recgnize even her kids. She cant take care of herself, she cant even go to washroom. Everyone knows that these are her last days. Yet no ones says that we should try assisted death. Its just tainted stuff to think about it. :-S

Personally, i think that if very old people are so much in pain for the last days of their life and they are on life support, there should be assisted death but only if the family says yes and the doctors agree that her condition doesnt seem to get better.

[TaraF]

personally i think as long as i have some brain activity, i'd rather be alive

I hope that's true for you, but if you were paralyzed and drowning in your own mucous, you might feel totally different. I wouldn't blame you, I wouldn't fault you, and I certainly wouldn't dare judge you for wanting to end your life as peacefully as you possibly could, despite you still having brain activity.

[luvthefree]

this is a very though provoking thread. i wish assisted death were available when my mom was dying from cancer. she wanted to die, she was ready to die and all the medical interventions just prolonged her suffering. i agree it should be available for those who want it because it is a personal choice. no one should ever have the right to decide for another person. syndi

[Lynn49]

When my Best Friend was dying from ALS two years ago, she would have chosen this option without hesitation! She was in such pain she just kept writing, "DIE" on herself, her sheets, with her white board marker! Her morphine was unfortunately controlled, so there was no way to "assist" her. She was all for assisted death before she was even diagnosed...this came too late for her.

It's so easy to sit back while we're healthy and "tut, tut" anyone who proposes this as a means to be relieved of pain and it makes me furious, to be honest! NO ONE can possibly know what THAT kind of pain and discomfort is like unless they've been through it. It's easy being self-righteous when it's not US in pain and with absolutely no control over our bodily functions.

People in comas of course, cannot make this decision, so that's a moot point. One has to have one's faculties in order to make an informed decision; it's not like filling out a form and that's it, done. It's a lengthy process involving various disciplines in the medical field, physical and psychological.

No one is going to tell anyone it's time for THEM to die.

A few years ago I watched a documentary on assisted suicide in Switzerland at the Dignitas centre and it was so uplifting, so peaceful for the woman who was followed from her decision to pass peacefully in this way until her death. There were no hospital beds, no medical stuff, just a lovely room where her family visited with her and where they spent a few days with her until she made her transition into death. That's how I would want to go, and oh, how I would have loved that for my Best Friend.....not writhing in pain!
We treat our pets better than that!

Here's the information on that clinic...people from all over the world go there for their services...
http://www.dignitas.ch/?lang=en