Re: Euthanasia.

Fear and control. The people who don't want it fear it and they want to stop anyone having the right.

Re: Euthanasia.

Alan, it can be a case of heaven and hell and if you dare to take your own life then you'll go to hell - if you think that way. That's what scares a lot of people. The fear of the unknown.

Re: Euthanasia.

Not just terminal illnesses though. I have a sibling who is in their late 50's and is almost totally paralysed apart from limited movement with one hand. They could have 25 years in care to "look forward to". I'd kill myself if I was faced with that prospect. No privacy, no quality of life, spoon fed, permanent catheter, totally dependent on others... I'd definitely have a tablet cocktail while I still had the chance.

Re: Euthanasia.

There are a few arguments against euthanasia becoming legalised in this country, it needs serious and considered debate because we have to realise that like anything it can be used in ways it is not intended by some who may not have the patients best interests at heart.

Personally I think it's a great thing if not abused in any way, but there lies the problem.
Do we end up with a situation where elderly frail people who already often feel that they are a 'burden' now feel that they owe it to their family to bring things to an end.

Do younger people with serious illnesses also thing that it might be the 'right' thing to do for their family who find caring for them difficult or do they decide on euthanasia when really they are depressed because of their situation and there could be a solution which doesn't mean ending their life.

Some people think that voluntary euthanasia is in fact the start of a slippery slope that leads to involuntary euthanasia and the killing of people who are are no longer 'wanted'.

Another argument against making it legal is that Euthanasia could exposes vulnerable people to pressure to end their lives.

There could be pressure on elderly relatives by selfish families.

Pressure to free up medical resources.

Patients who are abandoned by their families may feel euthanasia is the only solution

Other reasons not to have it are:

Allowing euthanasia undermines the committment of doctors and nurses to saving lives.

Euthanasia may become a cost-effective way to treat the terminally ill.

Allowing euthanasia might discourage the search for new cures and treatments for the terminally ill.

Would euthanasia undermine the motivation to provide good care for the dying, and good pain relief.

Those are some arguments against, I don't necessarily think all of them would happen if it was made legal but some certainly could.

Re: Euthanasia.

As has been said before, it is illegal to let animals suffer, so why can we let humans?
We would be in big trouble for prolonging the suffering of animals, yet we would be in trouble for NOT prolonging the suffering of human beings.

I believe it will happen one day, but probably not in our lifetime.

Re: Euthanasia.

Euthanasia is a obviously a touchy subject and potentially a very dangerous one to freely allow. What you are talking about is empowering someone to kill someone else: 'Assisted Suicide' though makes more sense to me. If you have had enough with no way out and you have your facilities it should be your call.

I think euthanasia has always been practiced but kept quiet: an overdose of morphine for instance to war victims. If that is the case then it should be allowed under certain circumstances. No way should one doctor be allowed to decide though, obviously.

Re: Euthanasia.

Whilst agreeing that this is indeed a very emotive subject, what we have to bare in mind is the state of mind of the patient.

Is the patient suffering from an illness from which they will never recover? Is the patient capable of ending their own life (suicide) - again emotive for some religions, I believe?

For years I've advocated the difference between allowing animal and human cruelty and for me there's no difference whatsoever; but, as humans who care deeply for our pets we could not allow them to suffer.

However, as humans, we cling onto life in the vague hope that a cure is iminent and, if our loved ones were part of euthansia, be it assisted or otherwise, how would we feel if a magic cure was miraculously discovered a few days/weeks later?

I don't know the answers to these questions but, if I were in such a desperate situation, I'd like to think I'd be able to choose the time and place by my own hand assuming I was of sound mind to end my own life; but I would never dream of putting that onus onto a family member or the medical profession.

Everyone has the right to sign a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) which is a legal document and which allows a patient to refuse any medical intervention in extreme cases at a point where death would be a mercy, but ONLY if that's what the patient has made a decision upon of their own accord.

If I chose to be euthanised, it would have to be at my own hand and could never allow a doctor or family member to make that decision or assist as it would, in law, be murder.

For some folk the killing of a person through ill health could be for monetary gain etc, so many things would have to be considered.

Don't know if anybody's ever seen the film Soylent Green, but it's a remarkable film from the 60s (?) and is very poignant on this subject.

Re: Euthanasia.

Good post Mollie. I see more and more DNR's these days. Encouraging to know there is care and thought there for most.

Re: Euthanasia.

The majority of the people who argue against assisted dying/euthanasia do so from a religious perspective. I think only ethical and legal arguments should be allowed and religious views should be kept right out of it.

Re: Euthanasia.

I think anyone who argues against should be made to nurse someone dying and be made to watch the suffering first hand.

My FIL had Emphysema, he basically drowned in his own fluid.
He was unable to eat for months and stayed alive by drinking tiny amounts of water or tea .
He fought for every single breath day and night ..day in day out. It was torture for him and for the family.

He weighed less than a small child when he died..
Doctors said they couldnt give him oxygen because of the fragile state of his lungs, they couldnt give him any meds to ease the over burden of fluid because he would go into kidney failure..
They said he wasnt strong enough to cope with other treatments and so they left him struggeling like a drowning man for months and months until he was so exhauseted that he breathed out and just didnt breath in again,,

Tell me how helping that man to die with dignity and without the fear and horror he suffered would have been wrong? Because I cant see it and if I had been able to help him I would have ,,No one deserves to die like that...

And honestly unless you have been through it and seen it first hand you really do not understand how bad it is ..