Assisted Suicide

[SpeedyWorm1]

After watching countless episodes of Diagnosis Murder and House, not to mention the occasional time the the major news channels air a story about it, I have a question for all of you guys. Should assisted suicide be legal? Many people wish to try it, but I am against it. People with awful diseases, such as Loe Gehrig's disease, or just completely paralyzed because of an accident. Should these people be allowed to tell others to kill them? Personally, I think that no matter how sick you are, you can still be a difference in the world. Look at the guy paralyzed from the neck down, who is painting with his mouth, and countless other good things. Opions?

[EvilEggCracker]

Well, personally I think that if a person wants to die, they should be allowed to die. If they want someone to help then theyr should be allowed to get help. If we have free will then we should be allowed to kill ourselves. Especially if they have a disease and are in pain.

[pixels]

You should have the ability to control as much of your life as possible. So yes.

[Nuts]

Assisted suicide is sketchy since it can lead to "Oh, I thought he wanted to die, my bad." But under controlled circumstances, I have no problem with it at all. I remember the movie Soylent Green where assisted suicide was a lucrative business. You went to the local death facility and you would lay down on a table, watch a beautiful nature film while listening to classical music; all the while you were being euthanized. You would have to see the movie to appreciate it and get a sense of how easy it would be to create such a system. Unfortunately, the religious influences in society would never permit such a thing. I guess it's more appropriate to have traumatized families finding their dead relatives in their most violent state.

I am 100% in favor of legalized suicide. I think there should be devices created to help people who want to leave this planet. Imagine the possibilities of organ donation and population control if we only had a suicide system in place.

[ScottieIWU]

I always saw "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" as the complete control of one's life. I don't feel as though the government should ever be able to tell me that I have to live. I have to agree with nuts that the religious influences in society are the ones saying that we cannot let people kill themselves.

Of course, that doesn't mean that anybody should just be able to walk to a doctor and have to be assisted in death, there should be criteria such as a debilitating and extremely painful disease.

I remember my mother telling me about her father dying of colon cancer and how every minute of his life was agony for about five years. I read and hear about people who must go through that and think that there's a better and more dignified way to get to the same end.

Scott

[william_clinch]

I think it should be allowed, but it should be highly moniterd, and have strict rules and guidlines in place.
In some peoples lives (when everything is going wrong in there lives, or they're just nuts), they have times when they feel suicidal, but within the next week or so, they feel normal again, so there should be a time between when you chose to die, and when you go through with it, so you have time to think it over
There should also be an age limit, cos kids are generaly stupid.
The patients mental stability should also come in to question

There is also the issue of just letting people die. many old people wouldn't want to be reccusitated if they collapse or something, and not "intefering" with someone as they are dieing should be up to them (oviously decided beforehand)

[Nuts]

If you're over 18, I don't care what the reason, I say take your life so that others can enjoy theirs. If you're so depressed that life is a painful agonizing effort, then it's likely that you're transferring some of that pain to others around you.

[lostsa]

From the view of the one committing suicide, it really should be legalised, but only if the person can't kill themself. If you're physically stong enough to slit your wrists, then you should be mentally strong enough to do so - it's unfair to ask someone else to do it. If, however, your paralysed or something, then I guess it's ok. The only rights you are interfering with are your own. But is it morally acceptable? Generally, suicide is seen as the coward's way out, but is it cowardly to avoid unnecessary pain and accept inevitable death? That I'm not so sure about, but then again, I haven't experienced pain anywhere near what these sick people have.

But it's really messed up for the doctor who has to do the dirty work. Has anyone here read 'Journal of the Dead'? It wasn't that good a book, but it was interesting as it told the true story of a guy, Raffi Kodikian, who mercy killed his best friend, David Coughlin. One quote I liked from it was something like, "You can't kill someone just because they ask you." The doctor would still, at the end of the day, have a life on his hands. He might as well be a murderer, or an executioner. He still killed someone, even though they wanted him to.

As an afterthought, I wonder how many people travel to Switzerland to be euthanised. It could be an asset to the country, like tourism. "Come here to see the Alps, or to get killed, if you want."

[Pisces]

I'm for assisted suicide if there is no chance of pulling through; why should somebody lie in extreme agony for days just so they can die 'naturally'? But if they have a chance of living why kill them because of a momentary pain, I have been in such pain I wanted death as a release because it was so overwelming that I couldn't imagine life without pain and I didn't want to live with the pain. But after said event I was fine and happy, it would be abit stupid killing everyone with a serious wound because they wanted it at the time and likewise it would be abit stupid killing people suffering and illness such as depression because they wanted it at the time.

If you're so depressed that life is a painful agonizing effort, then it's likely that you're transferring some of that pain to others around you.

Most people try to suffer by themselves and its other people's fault if they want to get involve and get hurt themselves in the process. Its not like a suicidial person runs around poking pins in everyone, if you feel sorry for a depressed person that feeling of sorrow is called sympathy and its your own damn fault :P And also depressed people aren't the only ones to cause pain to others, I mean the fact that you will so willing dismiss suicidial people makes me depressed but does that give me a right to beat you to death with a 2x4? :P

[william_clinch]

it's not just the physical pain of the one dieing, it's also the emotional pain of everyone connected with that person
isn't it better that the person has a peacefull death, and is at peace, rather than to go on in agony for longer, getting worse, and have there family know they're in that state?
so choseing to spare your people from emotional pain is not the cowards way out
if you just lost your job, house, etc, then it would be the cowards way out, which is why I think there should be a time limit put in place (so the person has time to get over it)

[GenocideAlive]

From the view of the one committing suicide, it really should be legalised, but only if the person can't kill themself. If you're physically stong enough to slit your wrists, then you should be mentally strong enough to do so - it's unfair to ask someone else to do it. If, however, your paralysed or something, then I guess it's ok. The only rights you are interfering with are your own. But is it morally acceptable? Generally, suicide is seen as the coward's way out, but is it cowardly to avoid unnecessary pain and accept inevitable death? That I'm not so sure about, but then again, I haven't experienced pain anywhere near what these sick people have.

But it's really messed up for the doctor who has to do the dirty work.
You're throwing around a lot of stupid terms here. You're not a coward if you're 85 and in the final stages of dealing with a horribly painful debilitating disease. You just want to skip to the end part, which seems more like crazy bravery. And doctors who perform euthanasia will obviously be for it, just like we don't make doctors do surgery if they want to perform autopsies. We're not making them do anything.

[ScottieIWU]

if you just lost your job, house, etc, then it would be the cowards way out, which is why I think there should be a time limit put in place (so the person has time to get over it)
I don't really think death is ever the coward's way out. Think about the fear that a huge portion of the US has toward death. It's the unknown, people have no idea if they're going to have an afterlife, if not, all the unknowns can make it extremely hard for a person to accept death.

Also, think about the mental and physical strength it takes some people "taking the easy way out" to kill themselves. Do you really think taking a knife up your arm is easy, or that kicking the stool out from under you is easy?

I'm not trying to glorify suicide as a means to end personal problems (rather than disease) but I don't think it's fair to look at people who clearly lived difficult lives and say "that person is a coward for ending the pain." I assume most of us (I hope all, however) aren't suicidal and probably couldn't imagine the pain those people go through.

[frazz]

I really think that you should only be allwoed to commit suicide if you're going to die of some painful, torturouse disease. But asissted suicide is just not right. I mean like when someone suffocates a guy and calls it asissted suicide. But in a few years paralysys will probably have a cure anyway.
But other than that I am totally against suicide. People who try to killl themselves, and are rescued, would usually not sit there every day wishing they killed themselves when they had the chance. Even if you feel hopeless, or if you're in a commy prison being tortured, there is still a chance you can make a difference.

[SpeedyWorm1]

I agree with Frazz. The straight up fact is, you get one life. death is it. According to most beliefs anyway. Instead of killing yourself, why not just do something dangerous. Become a tester for drugs for cancer or something tested. Become a policeman or fireman. Do something that is a benefit to your country. People dont realize that things will normally get better. I have been severely depressed in my life, but you gotta keep going, and think about things better.

[ScottieIWU]

But in a few years paralysys will probably have a cure anyway.
I heartily disagree with that, especially given the current state of stem-cell research. But that's another subject for another time.

I think however, we're straying from the point of this post. Assisted suicide has never been about a depressed person who wishes to end it all. Assisted suicide is about the terminally ill patient who is essentially condemned to death but lives so painfully that the inevitable is preferable to the daily pain of life, meant in a quite literal sense.

Assisted suicide becoming legal doesn't open the door to death clinics like someone described in Soylent Green, it opens the door to a dignified end to life for those who would otherwise have to wait an indeterminate (but possibly very long) amount of time.