Thread: euthanasia

Originally posted by novacain
>>3 separate independant doctors could inspect a patient. if they all think its a good thing to prevent needless suffering, if the patient, patient's spouse, patient's children all agree, then what right does a state have to interfere ???

This is almost exactly the law one state introduced. The federal govt over-ruled it before anyone could use the laws.

oh mebe i'm not so dumb after all !! it seems reasonable. obviously you need to make very very sure there is no abuse of the 'right to die'.
people are often 'switched off ' life support when its felt its hopeless, so euthanasia is pretty similar. in fact its often carried out on the sly by with-holding treatment.
midwifes many years ago did not bother slapping and getting a baby to breathe when the baby was beyond hope or was really badly disfigured etc. i think it can be crueller to preserve life at all costs. trouble is it can be a subjective thing.

We get a tiny octopus here called the 'blue ringed octopus'. They are the size of a ping pong ball with legs. Normally brown they go yellow with very bright blue/purple rings when angry (they are very pretty when angry). If they bite you within minutes you are compleatly paralised. No breathing or heart beat, can't even blink, but you can hear and see. (someone survived for over 2 hours after being bitten on a crayfishing boat as they got CPR constantly until they reached a hospital)



What if you were in a coma like that and someone wanted to pull the plug?

you aren't in that type of coma for years though are you ??

more worrying is the cases of people who come out of coma's after years. but these people are not 'brain dead', just incapable of resussitation for some reason. if you are brain dead then you are beyond hope - pull the plug.

>>This is almost exactly the law one state introduced. The federal govt over-ruled it before anyone could use the laws.

Futher research shows four people did use the law before it was over ruled.

anyone seen the film 'Awakenings'.....first film to make me shed a tear in years......

the subject of coma's and deep regressions may be a tricky one as far as euthanasia is concerned. i wonder whats the longest someones been in a coma, and come out of it ???

Originally posted by stevey
anyone seen the film 'Awakenings'.....first film to make me shed a tear in years......

the subject of coma's and deep regressions may be a tricky one as far as euthanasia is concerned. i wonder whats the longest someones been in a coma, and come out of it ???

Hmm.. I remember reading somewhere that the charactor that De Niro played was altered from what he was like in real life.....supposedly, after "awakening" this person constantly abused the staff and was the most antisocial psycho imaginable......

Read that years ago though...not sure how accurate it really was....

I don't like the idea of euthanasia.

It is degrading to human life. It promotes death, over life. What if the person commit suicide, and then, 2 days later, they found a cure for the disease? The person just killed themselves for nothing. Eventually, if euthanasia was to be legalized, laws would become more and more liberal. What if they started considering depression a reason to commit suicide? Then anyone feeling down on themselves for a day or so would just kill themselves! It would bring suicide rates to an all time high.

I understand that people suffer, but this issue is just too degrading to human life to be a good thing.

Originally posted by tyler

What if the person commit suicide, and then, 2 days later, they found a cure for the disease? The person just killed themselves for nothing.

The likelihood of that pales into insignificance compared to the millions of people who will carry on suffering without getting that "miracle cure" in time.

Originally posted by tyler
What if they started considering depression a reason to commit suicide? Then anyone feeling down on themselves for a day or so would just kill themselves! It would bring suicide rates to an all time high.

I dont think the avarage suicidal manic depressive is too concerened with the legality of suicide. If he/she wants to kill themselves, I doubt they would need the state to help.

Adjusting a law to reflect changes in society does not mean things must spiral out of control.....

tyler
I share your concerns about the 'abuse' of any law s created to deal with euthanasia.

>>It promotes death, over life.
Here is where we differ. I think it promotes quality of life over quantity.





If you are not terminaly ill but in constant pain would is that reson enough to be able to commit suicide?

(Is 'legal' suicide termed euthanasia? Do you commit suicide or euthanasia?)