Discussion topic: Euthanasia

[Kustom]

In the spirit of Pooka's threads, here's another topic so that we can rip each other's throats ;)

From wikipedia:

Euthanasia (Greek: ευθανασία, "good death") is the practice of killing a person or animal, in a painless or minimally painful way, for merciful reasons, usually to end their suffering.

Euthanasia in the strict sense involves actively causing death (active euthanasia). This is in some cases legal in the Netherlands and Belgium, but in no other countries (as of 2005). Euthanasia in a wider sense includes assisting sufferers to commit suicide, in particular physician-assisted suicide; this is legal in a small number of jurisdictions.

Allowing death—e.g. by not providing life support or vital medication—is not considered euthanasia if it is the patient's wish. It is sometimes called passive euthanasia in cases where the patient is unable to make decisions about treatment.

What do you think about euthanasia?

Cases in which people could justify euthanasia I can think of:
- Severe pain that won't go away
- Severe brain damage putting the person in "vegetable" state
- Disability that prevent the person from doing anything/the things she lives for (like in a recent award winning film I don't wanna spoil)
- Coma with little chances of waking up
- Assisted suicide for whatever reason

Of course, not all of those cases are equal and it's possible to agree with euthanasia in some cases and not others.

Personally, I'm leaning against euthanasia not for philosophical reasons but more for practical reasons.
I see a real danger that people could murder family members or patients and claim they just "put them out of their misery"... It actually happened in France a few years back, a nurse murdered half a dozen old people under her watch and then claimed that she had only been merciful to avoid being charged. It turned out she was just raving mad, and she had also forged documents to claim a share of her victims' money.
Things are different if the patient is able to give his written consent, but there could be situations in which the family put pressure on him. I think allowing the family itself to take the decision is a slippery slope: what if a rich old fart falls into a coma, and his 20 something beautiful bride has to take the decision, mmm? I wonder what choice she'd make...

Finally, denying euthanasia does not deny you the right to die, it just postpones it. You're gonna die anyway... Only in case of severe pain is postponing death really a problem. And even in that case you don't know what's after death, it could be even more painful!

Those are my 2 cents, but I haven't really made up my mind yet. What do you think?

[Praetorian]

I'm all for it. I don't really need to explain why as you did it for me, but I think people can decide for themselves when they want to die. If I were in a vegetative state with no chance of waking up I'd rather be put out of my misery.

[Jay]

^ I agree with Mikey.

For once. ;)

[koku]

people can decide for themselves when they want to die.


.......not always; atleast some people aren't in a rational state when they say things like this. Emotions get in the way of how we think, and sometimes a person under a lot of stress people will want to commit suicide (duh). Find some people that failed at killing themselves and I a good ammount of them will be thankfull they didn't commit suicide.

It's a tough call I think and it's not as easy as "do they want it?" I would also have to ask, "do they really mean it?"

I have no idea where I would be on this issue though. I'd assume some blurry part of the middle.

[setrict]

I think it should be an option, kind of like the Organ Donor card. Specify in advance under what conditions you do not want to be artificially maintained, and specifically who (or what guidelines) will be used to determine if those conditions apply. The choice should NOT be forced upon family, or friends to make the determination.

I don't believe in Euthanasia by removal of life support. If they are going to die without it, atleast have the decency to put them down quickly and as painlessly as possible. None of this starve a person to death crap like we had with Schiavo (where they removed her feeding tube and it took over a week for her to die of dehydration).

I would not support Euthanasia for cases where a person is primarily in control of thier functions. I'm going to sound like a bastard explaining this one, but here goes. If you can kill yourself do it; don't make someone else pull the plug for you. It doesn't have to be a legal question, after all who are they going to prosecute?

[Praetorian]

.......not always; atleast some people aren't in a rational state when they say things like this. Emotions get in the way of how we think, and sometimes a person under a lot of stress people will want to commit suicide (duh). Find some people that failed at killing themselves and I a good ammount of them will be thankfull they didn't commit suicide.


We're (at least I was) talking about medical euthenasia here you pleb, not maniacally depressed people.

Besides, failing to commit suicide is like failing at failing.

[Jay]

You can fail at failing? o.O

[Kos]

For the record, I'm all for euthanasia - with some legal requirements of accountability (see: culpable mental state, duress, etc.).

I think it should be an option, kind of like the Organ Donor card. Specify in advance under what conditions you do not want to be artificially maintained, and specifically who (or what guidelines) will be used to determine if those conditions apply. The choice should NOT be forced upon family, or friends to make the determination.

These already exist, to a degree - a Do Not Resuscitate Order. By the by, those yellow rubber "Livestrong" / Lance Armstrong bracelets? Some hospitals use yellow bands to specify the existance of DNRs.

None of this starve a person to death crap like we had with Schiavo (where they removed her feeding tube and it took over a week for her to die of dehydration).

Just to nit-pick - dehydration and starvation cannot and should not be used interchangeably. :)

[ZMarie]

If you can kill yourself do it; don't make someone else pull the plug for you. It doesn't have to be a legal question, after all who are they going to prosecute?

It doesn't have to be a legal question, but it can be a religious one. In some religions (Catholicisim comes to mind) this a big no-no.

EDIT: And no, I'm not Catholic.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Assisted suicide in any form is a-okay with me. If you need someone's assistance to be able to kill yourself (due to illness), then something tells me all is not hunky dory. Otherwise kill yourself the old fashioned way, through suicide, if you really need to, but I'm not going to condone that.

[Ahimsa]

Hmmm Good topic to chat about. Being a nurse, we are faced with the ethics of this quite a bit. I cannot give a medication (such as a large dose of morhpine) with the intent of ending their life. However, as in Hopice (terminally ill patients usually) it is possible for a nurse to give a dose of morphine that coulde ease the patients symptoms of pain, anxiety and shortness of breath - but the dose required to do so, is lethal in itself, it would cause respiratory depression and therefore death. So while you intend to ease their pain and suffering with that dose, you are also letting them die peacefully, legally. This is usually only done at the families request, and it can't be a request to kill their family member, it has to be a request to ease their suffering of the symptoms at whatever cost.

So many nurse are in a tangle over this whole thing...many refuse to do, and many support it. I believe if you are a nurse who would never do such a thing, then that nurse should probably not choose to work in Hospice care so that she is never exposed to a situation in which she would have to make this decision. I myself would never choose to work in that area....but I am not against easing the patient's suffering.

[DarkFire168]

If they wanna die, let them, why do you care if they keep living?

[Anubis Nine]

I believe in Euthinasia and assisted suicide.