Euthanasia - Good or Bad?

Mitch86

Mitch86

Member
Location
Connecticut, USA
If the elderly over age 80 are suffering terrible pain and impairment, should they be allowed euthanasia? In Nazi Germany every man, woman and child who was suffering incurable pain or impairment was allowed euthanasia without any problems. The Nazis were an evil bunch killing millions of innocent people but they did have a Tiergarten 4 Euthanasia program where every person in their nation could get out of life if they so requested.

Here in America the best we can offer is Hospice care for the suffering and dying. They do not try any cures but allow "natural" dying to progress for many months or even years until death. Other countries like Canada and Switzerland have euthanasia. Canada requires a 90 day residency and Switzerland charges $ 10,000 plus a witness who knows the patient and can identify the body after death.

10 US states do offer some form of euthanasia. The others require suffering of at least 6 months to 6 years to die. What do you folks think of this issue?
 

I watched a show on TV a year or two ago about this very subject. It was a documentary of a man seeking euthanasia. It was interesting. Although I've forgotten many of the details, the process was quite lengthy and there was a lot of different steps that were strictly adhered to and monitored by some health organization. It was only allowed for certain health conditions I believe and of course the subject requesting it had to have a mental health assessment before being approved along with counselling on what lay ahead. They even made the man go through a trial run I believe it was the day before the real date of euthanasia. They actually filmed the whole process. It was quite fascinating to watch actually. It certainly wasn't an easy or fast process to go through, that's for sure.

The show was thought provoking for sure. I'm not sure what my position on this sort of thing is really. I suppose if I knew I had a long painful road ahead, I would certainly consider it.
 
Since we don't let our pets suffer, it should be the same for people. That would prevent those "messy" situations where we have to do it ourselves or ask for help from others which exposes them to legal problems.
 

I think it is a good idea as long as it remains in the hands of the one seeking it. I would hate to have the government having a say in this or relatives being able to make the decision.
The process may be long but I'm sure they need to be absolutely sure you know what is going to happen.
For myself, I would like the right to end my life because of terrible pain and hopeless medical conditions.
These days, the way they are cutting back on much needed pain relief medications it would be a comfort to know I could end my suffering if it became more than I could endure.
 
Assisted suicide and euthanasia deny the sanctity of human life. The sanctity of human life forms the basis of law and medicine. Euthanasia reverses the relationship between doctor and patient and is the ultimate in elderly abuse. We can learn lessons from the very small number of countries that have legalised assisted suicide and euthanasia. Euthanasia places our terminally ill people, who are vulnerable and weak, into a position of being coerced or pressured into having a duty to die. Everyone has an equal right to life, regardless of whether they are terminally ill or not. We must particularly protect these most vulnerable members of society.

Euthanasia would grant immunity to medical practitioners from criminal, civil and disciplinary proceedings, if they kill or assist a person with a terminal illness to commit suicide. It reverses the value of the sanctity of human life, on which the Institutions of Law and Medicine are based. Murder is prohibited by law, and it is an offence to assist a person to commit suicide. Medicine is based on healing and palliative care.

The first duty of legislators is to protect the lives of all the citizens. Legislators must govern for everyone, including the ill, the vulnerable and those with a disability; not just a few doctors or politicians, who want to assist people to commit suicide or to kill them and want immunity from prosecution. Arguments based on a hard case or a theoretical case of a person who has not had their pain managed well elicit compassion, but to jump to legalising assisted suicide and euthanasia in response is disproportionate and dangerous. It may be a case of misplaced compassion. You must govern for everyone, not just those hard or theoretical cases, which should be getting fewer and fewer with better management and advancing pain relief.

Law and Medicine are part of the glue that keeps our society together. Doctors and lawyers are trained to uphold the sanctity of human life as the basis of their professions. The legal prohibition of murder and assisting suicide provides us with security and safety. If we are feeling depressed, in pain or fearful of the future, we need to be properly treated or referred appropriately, not killed or coached into suicide. The purpose of medicine is to relieve pain and save lives. The four bio-ethical principles are: Non-maleficence, first do no harm. Beneficence, do good. Autonomy, can choose not to be treated and the Sanctity of Human Life. Doctors are trained to uphold the sanctity of human life while respecting a patient’s autonomy to choose treatment options available or refuse medical treatment.

Once the genie is out of the bottle!
 
I honestly never liked the idea of euthanasia because in the back of my mind is this nagging thought - what if they discovered something that could ease the pain, or help the person improve and live a better life? Technology is constantly improving in the medical field. Once that person is gone, it's too late. I know it's not easy living with the pain. My dad died of prostate cancer and the last year was hell for him because the cancer had progressed. Hospice came and helped him die. That's what they did. In a way, doesn't Hospice perform the euthanasia but they use a different word for it??!!
 
palides2021 said:
I honestly never liked the idea of euthanasia because in the back of my mind is this nagging thought - what if they discovered something that could ease the pain, or help the person improve and live a better life? Technology is constantly improving in the medical field. Once that person is gone, it's too late. I know it's not easy living with the pain. My dad died of prostate cancer and the last year was hell for him because the cancer had progressed. Hospice came and helped him die. That's what they did. In a way, doesn't Hospice perform the euthanasia but they use a different word for it??!!
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It's my understanding that Hospice keeps a terminally-ill patient comfortable with drugs, without the concern of an overdose. That may hasten death as a result.
 
I am all for euthanasia for terminally ill, suffering, people. i would take that option if I was in that situation.

But the little "secret" is that in at least some hospices, patients are given enough morphine so they are not in agonizing pain. The dosage of morphine given to them is enough to perhaps kill them. My mom was given the choice of more morphine or pain. She choose more morphine. She died about 8 hours that she was given a larger dose. She needed it. The regular dose did not effect the pain she was in, and she was desperate. My sister and I agreed to follow her wishes.
 
palides2021 said:
I honestly never liked the idea of euthanasia because in the back of my mind is this nagging thought - what if they discovered something that could ease the pain, or help the person improve and live a better life? Technology is constantly improving in the medical field. Once that person is gone, it's too late. I know it's not easy living with the pain. My dad died of prostate cancer and the last year was hell for him because the cancer had progressed. Hospice came and helped him die. That's what they did. In a way, doesn't Hospice perform the euthanasia but they use a different word for it??!!
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My wife that had cancer went into hospice once. Then all of a sudden she got better with the new medicine they were giving her. The Oncologist said cancer in her lungs had disappeared. She got out of Hospice & lived cancer-free for 4 months.

Then it came back with a vengeance, She did get to see G.S. graduate 6th grade. Next day back in hospital where they showed her liver, lungs & kidneys were full of cancer so back in Hospice.

Hospice only kept her pain-free with different drugs. They also came & bathed her every day, Nurse came & checked on her every day or anytime I called her. Hospice did keep her pain-free right to the end.

The nurse checked the Morphine bottle every day to make sure I was NOT giving Patty too much morphine to hasten her death. Then when she did die, the funeral home had to send in blood & hair samples somewhere to make sure she was not killed by an overdose by me. The funeral director told me this.
 
My mother was in Hospice for over a year. She was immobile but okay to sit in her chair and watch TV. She was so frustrated that she was unable to walk, and it broke my heart. On September 28, she went into the "transition" phase and became bedridden. I watched her deteriorate until she passed away last week.

She was constantly uncomfortable and asking "Why can't I get up?", "Someone get me out of here" and "How did this happen to me?". She was given medication at the end but still couldn't sleep during her final days. So, yes, I absolutely agree with euthanasia.

I hope I can take a bottle of sleeping pills if I ever get to that point.
 
dseag2 said:
My mother was in Hospice for over a year. She was immobile but okay to sit in her chair and watch TV. She was so frustrated that she was unable to walk, and it broke my heart. On September 28, she went into the "transition" phase and became bedridden. I watched her deteriorate until she passed away last week.

She was constantly uncomfortable and asking "Why can't I get up?", "Someone get me out of here" and "How did this happen to me?". She was given medication at the end but still couldn't sleep during her final days. So, yes, I absolutely agree with euthanasia.

I hope I can take a bottle of sleeping pills if I ever get to that point.
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So sorry for the loss of your mother.
 
dseag2 said:
My mother was in Hospice for over a year. She was immobile but okay to sit in her chair and watch TV. She was so frustrated that she was unable to walk, and it broke my heart. On September 28, she went into the "transition" phase and became bedridden. I watched her deteriorate until she passed away last week.

She was constantly uncomfortable and asking "Why can't I get up?", "Someone get me out of here" and "How did this happen to me?". She was given medication at the end but still couldn't sleep during her final days. So, yes, I absolutely agree with euthanasia.

I hope I can take a bottle of sleeping pills if I ever get to that point.
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Sorry for your tragedy. It's a shame that Canada and almost every European country has legal euthanasia and here in America most states do not allow it.
 
the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.

A choice to die that should be available to the individual suffering that definition.

I'd opt for that, if that was my situation. I do have a living will in place that provides a directive should I be unable to voice my wishes.
 
A person should be given the "Right" to end their life if/when multiple doctors agree that there is no hope for recovery. That could be stipulated in a living will, etc., while the individual is still mentally able to understand the ramifications. I see nothing to be gained by keeping a person doped up for days/weeks/months just to maintain a heartbeat and brainwave. The only ones who benefit from keeping a person alive as long as possible are the doctors and hospitals which will run up massive charges until the inevitable happens.
 
Mitch86 said:

Euthanasia - Good or Bad?​

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Properly controlled and regulated I think it's good. It should be everyone's right to make that decision.
horseless carriage said:
Assisted suicide and euthanasia deny the sanctity of human life.
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I don't see it that way, having watched family members die slow painful deaths I think properly done euthanasia or assisted suicide enhances the sanctity of life.
 
Judycat said:
My thing is what if they make mistake during administration and you wind up lingering for hours feeling like you are being burned alive. I mean, you do eventually die but...
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I can't think of any reason why a person would feel like they were being burned alive. None of the chemicals used for euthanizing humans can cause that sensation. The worst that could happen is the person wakes up. And if they woke up they might have lasting neurological problems, except I doubt the problems would last very long at all because the euthanizing team would probably just up the dose and take another stab at it.
 
We are so sorry to tell you that your new born son has a disease known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. As ALS progresses, the degeneration of motor neurons in the brain interfere with messages to muscles in the body which means that your son will be totally paralysed, unable to talk, not even able to control his body functions. Far better that we just let your son slip away, leave you to mourn and grieve, then, when you feel able to, perhaps try for another baby.

That is what can happen once the genie is out of the bottle, and if that unfortunate child not been allowed to live the world would have been robbed of the genius of the physicist Professor, Dr, Stephen Hawking.

The problem with Euthanasia is that once a law is passed, legalising assisted dying, it won't be restricted to the terminally ill. Anyone seen as a financial drain could be coerced, especially confused elderly people. I sincerely hope we don't let that genie out of it's bottle.
 

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