Euthanasia is a topic that often pops up in to the Mainstream Media when a person seeks a court ruling to allow them to kill themselves. The most recent case involved a French woman who suffered from a rare form of nasal cancer – her request was denied by the courts and she was found dead the next day (presumably at her own hand). The subject causes much debate – as is so often the case with ethics-related topics. So, in light of the subject coming back up, I want to know what you think: do you think euthanasia should be legalized, and if so, should there be restrictions placed on its use?
Should Euthanasia Be Legalized?
My answer is no. I do not think that euthanasia should be legalized. I believe that there are too many opportunities for it to be abused (such as a dying person whose family are to inherit a great sum of money through their death). There are also likely to be cases where a person who may not be mentally capable of making the choice to die, being considered “capable” by the court system.
Image above: Four terminally-ill people in Australia killed themselves using this machine. It gave them a lethal dose of drugs after they answered “yes” to a series of questions on the lap-top screen.
Suicide is selfish and weak.
That is all.
This issue is being addressed on “House” tonight.
Dicshuker: I suppose it does bring up the does god exist dillema. Perhaps the epicurean paradox should be read to get my point of view more accurately
i was going to ask you what the epicurean paradox is, but why bother, i can just look it up with the same time spent. thanks , so
reading about evil
seems like a human mental puzzle, but I would think the encapsulated(sp?) human existence as a whole is short lived, but if not and if such a problem should be questioned about black/white-good/evil, than not enough time has transpired to our …what is it? the end?the peak? ect.
Do you think there is no divine plan, “cb”?
Diogenes: I don’t believe in a divine plan so no and I think that’s where this arguement eventually leads to a belief in being smited to hell by god. Which I find superstitous. I have no problem with people being religous I do however when it comes to affecting other people lives with these absurd beliefs of a god who would want someone to suffer and then die blackmailed by a further imaginary pain called hell.
jfrater: I have read many, many of your posts, and I have to say, I am a bit disappointed with this one. I read it expecting you to be an fair mediator, listening to both sides, as you often are, but in this case, you are just belligerently pushing your own agenda.
Otherwise, I quite enjoy the daily morning breakfast of random information.
Euthanasia should be legalized.121.Dan – your right
Suicide is selfish and weak,cause the human race is just that.add god/religion to that,well the human race sugar-coated itself so they don’t look weak and selfish,but righteous and all knowing.The world is a mess,cause of those facts,I would rather live in a world where you decided what you want,from religion(let your children decide when there old enough,its there right to choose),life(abortion should be thought about deeply,and done when your seed is not a life,when its heart and brain is functional,its murder) and death(Euthanasia should be thought about deeply,no one wants to be in pain,so why should someone be in constant pain until death).Its a sad world we live in now,with all the people dying for silly reasons,and yet we argue about a persons own right to die,we should b talking and arguing about these people who are dying in hellish situations,simply cause there in the wrong place at the right time….
it should only be up to the person who is going to die, no one else. no one should have the power to take anothers life.
also, this opens a flood gate. if euthanasia is legalized, who’s to say we shouldn’t kill everyone with aids? or everyone with mental disabilities? next thing you know, we’re living in an orwellian novel. seems a bit drastic, but hey, just thinking ahead
Yes, however I think the only people that should be allowed to vote on this are the people it DIRECTLY affects.
i havn’t read all of the responses, so it’s possible that someone has already given my opinion. i would argue that there are entirely too many people on earth, and we desperately need to thin out the herd. when there are too many deer wandering through the suburbs, they are killed. when a cat lives in someone’s alley, it is caught and executed, er, i mean euthanised. the justification for something like that is to keep their numbers down, but noone is keeping our numbers down. we simply reproduce constantly and spread like a cancer, so if we can’t euthanise orphans and the homeless, if we can’t stop having babies, then for the love of god, please let those who want to die, die!
It should be Legalized, when something horrible happens to me god forbid, i don’t want to be a burden for my family. As early as now i have already made up my mind regarding this and have already informed my family. In a case that i should be bed ridden / comatose for about (3 mos. max) due to sickness/accident i want my family or my lawyer to pull the plug.
yes, because we dont like to see people suffering extreme pain and knowing that they’re not going to survive anyway, right? especially if we see them begging for us to take their lives away coz they couldnt take it anymore. and no, because, as jfrater said, it will create all-new problems which is most obviously the large chance for it to be exploited and abused (in a whole mountain of ways)….and based from what i hear, euthanasia is mercy-killing performed by doctors and not suicide performed by ignorant kids (hehehe), so why are some people here talking about suicide??
Sorry, I thought this was about assisted-suicide, you know, where the person actually whans medical assistance to end their life peacefully, instead of hanging themselves in a garage for the spouse or child to find them, or blowing their brains out and letting the wife clean it up, or laying in a hospital bed in extreme pain, when the end is near anyway. Most posts on here seem to be discussing Euthanasia against someones’s will, without their explicit consent. No wonder nothing ever gets settled in this country, because so many issues are jam-piled on top of the original issue, which i took to be, “should a person have the right to get medical help in ending their own life”. I say absolutely it should be a legal option. To impose your beliefs on someone else is so wrong, it is weak and selfish on your part. This country should be able to see the logic in having the personal freedom, even when it comes to how you end it.
I think it should be legalized. If someone is going to die anyway then they should have that option rather then to let them suffer and have the family watch them waste away. I worked in the medical field for a very long time and there are alot of doctors that agree with give patients this option. They technicaly already do it for people that can’t live without a machine pumping oxygen for them. If you think about it, we put down animals if they suffer because its the humane thing to do, Why let humans suffer? So the insurance and hospitals can syphon more money from the family?
***alarm bells*** religous debate alert ***alarm bells***
Um, find a cliff, or buy a gun. Not that hard to kill ones self.
And Paul, humans arn’t a breed of cats, maybe if you want people to be herded out and killed than go join the marines, or sas or whatever country your from, but of course your probally and overweight computer junkie that couldn’t run a mile without stopping for 20 breaks.
Simone: No need to play the overweight computer junkie card.
What about those that can’t find a cliff, or can’t buy a gun, because they’re confined to a hospital bed? They gotta “tough it out”?
How is euthanasia weak and selfish, when all you want to do is end your pain? Forcing them to stay alive in prolonged agony just because you want to see them for a while longer seems more selfish to me. And when they can’t talk because of the pain, what’s the difference going to be between seeing them in silence at a hospital bed and visiting their gravestone? The image of a body?
but seriously if someone really wants to die that badly they’d just jump off a building.
Yes
Simone: Don’t disrespect things that you don’t understand. The Marines are not the subject of this list neither is wholesale slaughter. Do You have anything the you would Die for? Please keep your Uber-liberal opinions to lists that they belong.
If someone wants to die, then I do not see how another person can deny them that right. I also do not understand why time and money is wasted on saving someone who has attempted suicide. If they wanted to die enough to kill themselves, why not let it happen. There especially no reason in saving someone who has attempted suicide if their quality of life will be greatly diminished. Ultimately, my answer is yes, if someone wishes to die, they should not be denied their right.
This is a tought ethical question, but I am of the opinion that if those that are terminally ill wish to die peacefully and with dignity while they are still able to, I don’t see why anyone should be able to tell them “no.” My grandmother is one of the most respected RN’s in the “death and dying” field of hospice in the whole state of Florida (she gives talks regularly to hospice conventions all over the state and the southeast), and she is a member of the Hemlock Society. Being someone who has worked with terminally ill patients and their families for over 40 years, she strongly believes in a person’s right to die, so long as that person is an imminent case. I don’t believe euthanasia should be at all available to healthy individuals, or that it should be in anyway made available to the general public. It is an issue that should only be between those terminally ill patients and their doctors. The family of the person should have little to no say in the matter, unless the patient requests that their opinions be taken into account. It *is* incredibly selfish of those family members to insist that their dying relatives remain alive when that relative wants only to end the day-to-day suffering that makes their life unbearable.
it should indeed be legalized, and restricions should be made.
a doctor who doesnt know either the person wanting to die, nor his/hers family should have to sign the application after carefuly examining the subject.
(to prevent corruption)
if a person feels he/she would be better of dead, attempts will be made, and can possibly further injure the person if the suicide fails.
if i ever become a “vegetable” i would like someone to put a bullet between my eyes.
i remember as a kid, when just hearing the word pronounced, wondering what the big deal was about kids in the orient. (youth in asia)
for whatever reason i also had problems saying melancholy. in 7th grade whilst reading outloud to the class i read it as “melon ch holy”.
how did i ever get accepted to college?
Disc: It’s a mystery to us all.
I kid, I kid…
If someone is ill and suffering and wants to die, just smother them with a plastic bag or something…if the situation were grave enough then its what I’d do. Is that too simple?
Ed: Well, unfortunately smothering someone with a plastic bag isn’t considered euthanasia. It’s considered death by asphyxiation and I don’t think a court would accept that as assisted suicide. Manslaughter, maybe, so long as you can prove that the person indeed wanted you to end his/her life beyond a reasonable doubt. Otherwise, it would be murder.
The netherlands allow euthanasia performed by a healthprofessional; the request has to be checked by an independent doctor. A lot of old people sign such a request because they are afraid of a painful and lingering death. In practice only about 10% of this requested euthanasias are ever performed. Good painrelief, even if that shortens life and acceptance that patients can decide to forgo further treatment, except painrelief, makes sure that death is dignified and quiet. Since all performed euthanasias have to be checked by courts, misuse is very difficult. Religious reasons against euthanasia should be enforced privately, not by the state.
Oh, I forgot, doktors don’t like to fulfill a euthanasia request – for obvious reasons.Families have far less problems with it, because the hospital makes sure that the family can say good-bye in a good manner by combining medications so that people are reasonably alert but painfree. And yes, the Netherlands have also abortion on request, but only upto the third pregnancy-month, after that only life-threatening physical illness is accepted as a termination ground.
Sorry to sound like a serial killer, but If you asphyxiate someone who is too weak to resist with no other witnesses present and without leaving strangulation marks, how do they get you for manslaughter/murder? It’d just be cardiopulmonary arrest, which happens eventually anyway.
i still don’t get it. if the point of euthanasia is to end a painful life, why does everyone on here seem in favor of a process that requires multiple doctors and organizations to sign off on that request? do you not think that this will become highly bureaucratic? thus resulting in a process that takes months, if not longer, to conclude.
this will not solve the problem of someone in so much pain that they wish to end their life.
ed: haven’t you ever seen CSI, or any other crime drama on tv? there is always a mark somewhere
seriously though, if i’m not mistaken strangulation causes petechiae, damage of blood vessels in the eyes. so even if you use a pillow or a plastic bag, david caruso will still dramatically take off his sunglasses and look into the camera and say “looks like ed strangled away his future”.
Disc: very funny, I can totally see Caruso doing that.
What I think a lot of people who say. “just do this..or just do that”, do not understand, is the many difficult health situations people find themselves in. Paralysed. Weak. In terrible pain. Or afraid of a botched suicide leaving them in worse condition than before. Or leaving behind a hideous mess for their loved ones to find. Persons using the Assisted suicide option here in Oregon have had gatherings where they are able to tell their loved ones how much they care, they have been able to leave this life they way they chose, listening to their favorite music, (many have had musicians playing live), and they leave behind people who grieve, but rejoice for them that they retained their dignity and autonomy to the end.
SlickWilly; It appears that those who have seen the most death are those most likely to allow terminal folks peace at the time of their choosing. My grandmother too was a chronic care nurse (head nurse, terminal care), she was all for letting the terminally ill go. Despite the legality of it all, it does happen all the time; my husbands grandfather was dying of cancer, painfully, they OD’d him on morphine, at that state it doesn’t take too much to depress the breathing. Most of those so adamantly opposed will change their minds after watching enough folks die in hospital, robbed of dignity, and suffering.
Ed: You do actually sound like a serial killer. Murder with no witnesses or physical marks is still murder. You might be able to get away with it, but it still would be considered murder and not assisted suicide. The “too weak to resist” comment particularly disturbs me, seeing as how if it was assisted suicide the person should not be resisting at all.
Mom: I completely agree with you. The natural end of a long life is rarely as pretty or dignified as some people would believe. I personally would not want to spend my last years hooked up to machines, not being able to get out of bed, every breath a sharp stabbing pain, while someone has to come in and clean up my bodily wastes three times a day and wash me from head to toe because I’m unable to do it myself. There is nothing dignified about that. You are essentially regulated to the stigma of invalid, which is a *lot* for some people to have to swallow, myself included. I would rather choose to end my life peacefully, painlessly, and with dignity *before* I am confined to a hospital bed and start involuntarily *****ting myself. That is a whole other embarassment, one that I’m sure would grow deeper the longer you’ve been alive.
SlickWilly: That’s why I come to LV these days, to read your comments.
I can always count on you to make me laugh! (Even when you are not trying)
Yes, it should be legalized but only if a person signs a waiver of some sort to allow it but only if they have been seen by a psychiatrist who has determined the person to be mentally stable. It should only be allowed by the person though not by family members if the person is in a vegetative state unless the person has said they would rather have it that way. The only problem is that some doctors or family members will find a way around it and abuse it to kill innocent people or people who aren’t innocent that still don’t deserve to die. Basically it’s a moral issue, but no matter what people will kill themselves weather it is through euthanasia or not so why not make it more dignified than a gun to your head.
Oh, so now mentally ill people won’t have the option either?! Why take away their basic rights, just because of that particular form of illness.
euthanasia = euthaNAZI
see for example:
http://www.spkpfh.de/LuxembourgEngl.htm
At work I see allot of mentally ill emotionally disadvantaged teens that would love nothing more than to die. Some of them are terminally ill. The kids are between 10 and 18. Should they be assisted with suicide?
Absolutely NOT!
Where are the lines drawn? Who would have the power to draw them?
Death has touched my family we had to take my grandfather off life support because it was in his living will. I still question this decision even though it was not mine to make. My Grandmother has dementia and spends her time scared and confused. I would not take her last days. I had to contest her living will to put a feeding tube in her. I couldn’t let her starve to death.
They all ready have ways to kill off the ill. I don’t think making it easier would do anyone justice.
How would I know I am not ill?
Well all I need to do is look at my son and know that there is nothing that would keep me from spending as long as I could guiding him through life.
Apparently, starving to death is actually very painful…I remember watching a programme about a guy with some lethal muscular dystrophy who tried it but gave up in the end because it was too long and drawn out. I think that refusal of medication and nutrients is the only unofficial euthanasia widely practiced as well – for instance, it’s what they do for babies born with lethal genetic abnormalities.
This issue is very tough to sort out, and the webmaster made an excellent point about the potential for this to be abused. For practical purposes, I say no, it shouldn’t be legalized. With the slippery slope argument, I am an unlikely ally of the Catholic Church. And you are hearing this from a person who has longed to end his life for years, but not worked up the balls to actually do it. All the same, if I am really sick, I am in constant pain and I know that I am not going to get any better, that I am just going to keep getting worse and worse, I will simply fire a shotgun under my chin.
euthanasia should be legalized but with restrictions, such as the person must be found completely sound of mind, and they suffer from some horrible ailment. If a person was extremely active and then suddenly paralyzed from the waste down, their life is pretty much over as it is. allow them to choose to end their lives. we talk so much about animals who have been paralyzed and have awful incurable diseases being put down, why force a human to suffer in a situation where you allow an animal to die?
NO.
Clues: Taking away a family member’s wish to die peacefully if they are already dying an undignified, painful death is increadily selfish on your part. It’s basically saying that your right to have your family member alive for another couple of weeks or months trumps their right to decide whether or not to end their physical suffering. The fact that you even went against your grandmother’s wishes not to be put on a feeding tube – indeed her *legal* wishes – is especially telling. Euthanasia is *not* to be used on mentally ill patients, regardless of their age. They are not of sound mind to be able to make an informed and sober decision. However, if the kids you see are actually, legitmately *terminally* ill (“terminally” meaning “will directly and imminently lead to death”), then who are you to take away their right as well? When it comes to euthanasia, the lines can be clearly drawn, and drawn by the medical community, the only ones who are qualified to give a judgement on the matter.
grungefreak: That’s terrible…who would have to clean up your body? Scrape the brains and bits of bone off the walls? Burn the blood soaked sheets? Repaint the room? That, too, is incredibly selfish. Having had to just that for a friend about 6 months ago, I can tell you from first hand experience that that sort of thing is infinately traumatizing on the ones you care most about. As long as euthanasia is strictly controlled by the government and the medical community, there is virtually no possibility for abuse.
Cubone: Why not?
yes :p caz if you r dieing fromsomthing that would be painful
yes :p
yes c caz it wount be painful
)
Yes. Well, assisted suicide anyway. The power hungry, control freaks who are so afraid of rdeath themselves will disagree. But there are very few things that we truly have control over and the big one should be how and when we decide to “check out”. When the party stops being fun…go home.
DP
I believe that euthanasia should be illegal because itll support the act of suicide. Suicide ia already a big problem in the world today and for example a depressed teenager who feels theres no other way to solve their problems, sees that the act of suicide is legal anf that may encourage them even more to commit suicide. Suicide is also agains my religion so I believe it is wrong!!
no one should have the right to legaly kill another human being.
nini: You want the death penalty list. This is the Do I Have the Right to End My Own Life list.
makes me want to sing actually… “It’s my body and I’ll bleed if I want to…” Points to anyone who can name the Battered tune.
They do not nini, though…. I feel that those people who do commit suicide are doing this world a favor, for they are weak people who, apparently could not handle the constant up’s and down’s of life. What could these individuals have possibly been able to contribute to society anyway? Besides, human beings are nothing more than a plague, a virus let loose in this world with only one ultimate objective… To destroy everything that we touch! Just look at history, and my point will become valid. Killing others, all in the name of your so called “God”, Total genocide of people, different from those other people who are doing the murdering. Even people killing their own people. This world needs a new plague! A virus that kills without mercy, quick, easily transmissable and one that will ravage this planet and utimately, wipe out 80% of this worlds population within a matter of a year! Perhaps then, the surviving people that are left will see the error’s in their follies and change the things that they do. You want to kill yourself? Be my guest! Who needs you anyway? Good-bye and good riddence!
Secretkiller01: Matrix generation? Don’t ask for it, just let nature do the work.
nini: Who are you or anyone else to tell me How to live/die? Who am I hurting other than, potentially, myself in the after life? It’s just more space for you to hang out with your long lost relatives. Caring is one thing but infringing on someone elses rights goes Against what your God allows, you know, FREE WILL. He cares but He can’t stop us, why do you think you could?
Suicide = Murder
It is the capitalism which puts you in the corner and then kills you, even by using your own hand against yourself.
http://www.spkpfh.de/Public_Declaration_EMF_COL.htm
Make front against it!
Turn illness into a weapon!
http://www.spkpfh.de/Pro_illness.htm
I think that euthanasia shouldn’t be legalised as it gives murderers the option to testify that the murder they commited was actually euthanasia. But I accept peoples views on this subject matter as it is a persons own pesonal choice if they want to end their life.
i dont think that euthanasia should be legalised i think this because i thuink that it is wrong to kill a living thing.nobody should have the right to kill another human being because it is like murder and it is a crime to murder another human being.
I think euthanasia should not be legalised because i believe in the ‘sanctuary of life’ and that life is sacred and doctors should respect teh quality of life and recnogise that they should be unable to decided when someone shoyuld die because im a catholic i see it as interfering with nature and only god can decided when you die and not other human being’s also if it became leglised some people may feel they are a burded on their familys and may opt for euthanasia.I see life as a precise gift and god is the only one who can give it and take it away.
i think that Euthanasai should be legalized because i believe that everyone should have the right to choose whether they want to die or stay alive.no one in the whole world can change your mind about anything. if Euthanasia is used on animals that are ill and never goona get better, then why cant we do the same for humans who are ill?