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Should Euthanasia be legal?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Should euthanasia be legalised in the UK?
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Personally, I question the motivations of those "choosing" euthanasia, and those carrying it out. And for that reason, I remain unconvinced by the argument for legalisation.
What is the moral difference in starving someone and just giving them diamorphine?
The cases that I have had contact with were not exactly "euthanasia" in the form of someone aiding your death. 3 years ago, a friend of mine appealed to the courts to allow for her to refuse medical treatment for cancer. She had been battling it since she was 2 and it keps coming back, and she wanted to able to be stop treatment if she wanted. The case was refused and she died 6 months later.
The other case concerning my brother is his girlfriends son. He had problems with his heart, and after having 5 heart attacks in 2 months, when his mum found him suffering a 6th, she did not call the ambluance according to his requests and allowed him to die.
THus, my perception is slightly tarred by those events.
Death is almost always an unpleasant experience, but I believe that there is a slippery slope to slide down if we start justifying the taking of life to ease pain etc. I've stated my arguments on here enough times, but briefly - there is nothing illegal about suicide, whereby the person takes their own life rather than delegating the responsibility to another person (doctors, it would seem); who would decide what a life is worth in someone with, say, dementia or some other incapacitating illness?; what would happen to palliative care if euthanasia were promoted as the preferable end of life experience?; what safeguards would be in place to prevent abuse of the system by relatives/doctors?; etc etc
So whilst I sympathise with those going through a long drawn out death, or witnessing the demise of a close relative, I don't think euthanasia is the panacea that it is sold as.
No. For many of the reasons listed above.
So letting them starve to death is preferable to diamorphine?
Life belongs fully and unquestionably to the individual, not to some alleged deity- which appears to be the driving force behind the anti euthanasia movement, even if some invidividuals are against it for different reasons.
No one should force doctors to carry it out of course, but so long as there is a doctor, or even a relative or friend willing to assist...
What drug did Shipman use? What did he claim he was doing?
contract, done when the person was in full possession of his mental faculties.
Bottom line: if I state today that should I ever enter a permenent vegetative state or terminal state of cancer (for instance) I wish to be put to death, then I should be put to death. End of.
I'm not suggesting there should be no checks or anything, just GP's whacking heroin into everyone.
But there is a system at the moment where people are allowed to starve to death, in these cases I ask, is diamorphine better or worse?
Do you think that those people "allowed" to die aren't offered palliative care? NB It isn't always starving either...
The difference is between deliberately killing someone and allowing them to die by witholding treatment and letting "nature takes it's course". Neither are emotionally easy to deal with.
Consider the "switch off life support" issue. Many relatives believe that their decision to switch off has actually killed their loved one... the guilt associated with that is enormous...
They should be helped to.
If people care enough for their dogs to put them out of pain, why can people not choose to do the same for themselves? Or is it preferable to starve people to death rather than give them a dignified exit if that's what they want.
people are often given some palliative care, but as you well know MoK, many palliative drugs don't cure the pain, or even ease it in some cases. There are plenty of horror stories of people crawling around in pain in their last days, begging to die; that's in the UK, too.
I'm all in favour of it. Who to give choice to makes things a tad more complicated, but if someone is that bad they cannot make their own decision then that is an awful quality of life. the only slight issue comes with coma patients, who sometimes are fully aware of what is going on, and don't want it.
I am concerned that having the right to die will quickly become having a duty to die.
That pretty much sums up what I think about it tbh.
I doubt that...one natural instinct most humans have is for survival...when things get too bad, then one has the right to end it.
What constitutes that is a bit iffy and i'm sure there are other people more knowledgeble than myself in that department.
Out of the 30-odd years he "lived" in such appalling way he spent many of them trying to be euthanised. Needless to say the odious Church led a campaign to prevent him from succeeding in his request and the government was not interested in helping. At the end (I believe) a relative volunteered to help him die with dignity and risk being charged with murder.
That this man was not helped to die earlier is nothing short of an odious monstrosity and I challenge any opponents of assisted death to defend their position in cases like this.
This is a question of responsibility - and who should have it. A lot of people complain that patients at the end of life have no choices and should be allowed to die "with dignity" i.e. at a time of their choosing. Fine. But that doesn't change the fact that many people at the end stages of terminal illness have access to potent and lethal quantities of diamorphine but do not choose to take their own life. Euthanasia would legitimise their decision by passinf the responsibility for ending life onto the medical profession. Something I would never choose to take part in.
There's a superb film about that called The Sea Inside (or El Mar Adentro).
Personally I'm all for it. If, God forbid, I were ever to be in a vegatative state, I wouldn't want to be stuck in some bloody awful hospital while my friends and family had to come and see me in that state. I'd get someone to put me out of my misery asap.
There are arguments for saying that euthanasia is murder yadda yadda, but what is more humane and compassionate; allowing someone who will obviously never have anything remotely resembling a normal life again die peacefully or keep them alive, to the misery of the patient plus that of friends/family, at the cost of the taxpayer in a state that they will never leave. Granted, some families may want to keep the patient in that state because as John Locke stated, we all have a right to life. However, if that's true, I believe we all have a right to death aswell.
Because I have a right to die with dignity and not to be kept alive against my will. What do you think?
Yes, deffinately YES
Patients like my Mother would not have to suffer like she did. My mother was in pain even though she had drugs given to her. (they did eventually get her medication right and for the last couple of days she was peaceful but prior to that she was in pain and she was suffering).
Maybe so, but a subject like this has many varying views. People come and go on this site so newer posters can add their 10p worth.....yeah ?
of course palliative care is offered, but what can they do when a paient cannot swallow , when they are that weak that they cannot even drink from a straw ?
What about when someone is in pain or just very uncomfortable but the nurses cannot understand the patient when all they can do is mumble or cry out and wriggle about on the bed.
Not when we are talking patients with a TERMINAL illness. Like my Mother who had lung cancer which had spread. Of course im not saying let every patient be put to sleep in the early stages but once you are about 4/5 weeks before death then I think letting them go to sleep rather than suffer is much better, thats if the patient requests it.
Disagree strongly with this comment. Im basing my reply on what i saw when my Mother was in the late stages.
They didnt sort her medication out properly till a couple of days before she died, but before this she was in no fit state to even know what day of the week it was let alone know where the drugs were. She was very weak and there is no way she would have been able to let us know what she wanted as she could hardly speak.