Do you support assisted suicide?

[r ! z]

I've refrained from expressing my opinion on these kind of issues but here it goes.

I don't support assisted suicide...in the sense that that's not something I would choose. As far as it being legal or not, I don't care either way- like I said, I wouldn't go for it myself so it doesn't make a difference if it is legal.

Same thing with abortion & same sex marriage. I believe both are wrong, again- my personal beliefs. I'm not going to boycott with little picket signs outside of abortion clinics or gay weddings. I don't care if these things are legal or illegal. Just like I stated above re: assisted suicide- I don't care if abortions or gay marriages are legal or not, I'm not losing any sleep. People have free God given free will, you can do what you please with yourself. I hope I was clear on this lol, though I'm sure even if I was my faith and my God (Jesus Christ) will be ridiculed. Whatever, that's expected.

[r ! z]

i forgot to add, I've told my family that in the event that I was in critical condition to the point where I am solely being kept alive by a machine- to unplug me. No, I do not consider that suicide for those who might be wondering. If I would be dead if it wasn't for a machine keeping me (clinically) alive, then it's my time to go and they would selfishly be keeping me around.

[cupocity303]

So then what is your opinion on someone who isn't terminally ill but wants a doctor assisted suicide?

For the sake of argument, let's say an elderly man wants an assisted suicide. Let's say that he's mentally competent but he suffers from a disease that puts him in a state of chronic pain 24/7 which negatively effects his quality of life.

By law, should he be allowed to decide when he's had enough suffering?

See my previous post # 38. This is what I was talking about. There are literally dozens and dozens of hypothetical circumstances like this and you'd need amendments added to cover them, with some overlapping and perhaps in conflict with each other, which eventually ends up turning into a Me V. the Supreme Court type drag out.

All of this when he is physically able to kill himself in all sorts of interesting ways. But with all that said, for the sake of the argument I'll still say YES to your hypothetical, providing that the Doctor is safe from persecution and can come to the guys house and do the deed like delivering a pizza.

[Sweet Pea 50]

Anybody tell you today that they loved you, riz?

Well, a short white cracka from NorCal loves you.

Manhug. From the man cave. Watching Dallas vs Golden State. Got hella tools.

My man card is still legit.

[r ! z]

Anybody tell you today that they loved you, riz?

Well, a short white cracka from NorCal loves you.

Manhug. From the man cave. Watching Dallas vs Golden State. Got hella tools.

My man card is still legit.

my oldest girl (youngest one can't speak at the moment).........my mom via text (lol we text all the time for the record) and now you. 3rd time's a charm. you're my lucky charm you short, white, big forearm'ed potato pickin cracka.

te quiero, papi (read that in miguel cotto's voice.......which i'm sure is the exact same accent as Jose's on here, forgot his handle but i'm sure you associate him with his cotto avy)

te quiero tambien, jose. no te preocupes papa

[ßringer]

See my previous post # 38. This is what I was talking about. There are literally dozens and dozens of hypothetical circumstances like this and you'd need amendments added to cover them, with some overlapping and perhaps in conflict with each other, which eventually ends up turning into a Me V. the Supreme Court type drag out.

All of this when he is physically able to kill himself in all sorts of interesting ways. But with all that said, for the sake of the argument I'll still say YES to your hypothetical, providing that the Doctor is safe from persecution and can come to the guys house and do the deed like delivering a pizza.

Fair enough.

As for the bolded - Do you really think that a person should be forced to OD, jump off a building, hang themselves, or blow their brains out to end their suffering?

Those are all horribly painful ways to die which bring about undue suffering. Whereas when administered by a medical professional death is as painless and 'clean' as it possibly can be.

[talip bin osman]

This seems to be the question that always prevents a nation for making it legal.

I would argue that no "perfectly healthy" person wants to die. If the person in question is in exemplary physical condition yet still desires death then obviously they're mentally ill on some level and require extensive psychiatric care, not an assisted suicide.

voted yes bringer...

but i was also thinking about newly diagnosed patient for example... say, a stage 1 lung cancer... it is still treatable and patient is a young man on his prime so chances of prognosis is quite good... though not mentally ill, the dude is mentally weak as hell and decides "assistance..."

where do those type of patients fit in?

[cupocity303]

Fair enough.

As for the bolded - Do you really think that a person should be forced to OD, jump off a building, hang themselves, or blow their brains out to end their suffering?

Those are all horribly painful ways to die which bring about undue suffering. Whereas when administered by a medical professional death is as painless and 'clean' as it possibly can be.

Who says that that most of the ones you listed are painful? From everything I've read, jumping off of the Golden Gate bridge is painless and you die instantly (there are exceptions). What's painful about blowing your brains out unless you survive the impact? Couldn't be any more painful then a lethal injection, though putting you to sleep first makes it appear less painful. But that's besides the point. And I already said that I disagree with masking it, making it look like a medical procedure then for what it really is. So I don't care about it being "clean".

In my vary last sentence, I already said that I would support a Doctor coming over to your house and assist you in whatever medical way you want. But I disagree with 'medical professional death' or the wording of it. First, I don't think that there should specifically be a "profession" or a new industry created in this field that one can profit off of - IF that profession/industry solely exists because of a State assisted Monopoly as a result of a law that says, "nobody can assist you in your death unless they are a Government/State certified professional suicide assistant/Doctor/physician". Why the additional burden/forced expenses on top of the already existing funeral services ones? Someone may wanna get buried on their private property with their family digging the grave just as someone may want their friend or family member to buy the cyanide or potassium chloride and inject it for them.


Now if that industry can survive on it's own two feet because of all the demand for "medical, professional death", then fine. But I have a feeling that just like with abortions, they would start subsidizing it to keep the facilities running, and then still charge you something when you decide to off yourself, even though you indirectly paid for it with your taxes.



P.S. I may have said too much, but this got me thinking of all the possibilities.

[-jose-]

But you're a Christian man, aren't you, Jose? It was my understanding that suicide is considered a mortal sin in the Christian faith.

So how can one of Christian faith reconcile their support for assisted suicide with their religion of choice?

that's exactly why I said anyone is able to decide what ever they want to do with their life but personally I wouldn't go that route for that reason, it's not up to me when my life should end

I believe in God and also believe that it's up to him to decide but if someone decides to go on their on will that's their problem i'm not the type to lecture you why you shouldn't take it into your own hands

[cupocity303]

This is interesting:

The fundamental claim behind arguments for physician-assisted suicide is that most patients who desire it are experiencing excruciating physical pain

But this view is false. A multitude of studies based on interviews of patients with cancer, AIDS, Lou Gehrig’s disease and other conditions have demonstrated that patients who desire euthanasia (in which a doctor administers a lethal drug) or physician-assisted suicide (in which the patient himself takes the lethal drug prescribed by the physician) tend not to be motivated by pain. Only 22 percent of patients who died between 1998 and 2009 by assisted suicide in Oregon— one of three states, along with Washington and Montana, where it is legal — were in pain or afraid of being in pain, according to their doctors. Among the seven patients who received euthanasia in Australia in the brief time it was legal in the ’90s, three reported no pain, and the pain of the other four was adequately controlled by medications.

Patients themselves say that the primary motive is not to escape physical pain but psychological distress; the main drivers are depression, hopelessness and fear of loss of autonomy and control. Dutch researchers, for a report published in 2005, followed 138 terminally ill cancer patients and found that depressed patients were four times more likely to request euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide. Nearly half of those who requested euthanasia were depressed.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com...isted-suicide/