Euthanasia anyone?

**Huma** · 07-23-2009, 05:58 PM

I think I'm confusing euthanasia and assisted suicide.

If someone is terminally or otherwise severely ill/injured/incapacitated and they want to die, I have no problem if they kill themselves. I also have no problem assisting them in their suicide once I don't have to face any legal consequences.

**Scorpio** · 07-23-2009, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by vaio

thanx amelia and scorps! and yes over a year ago another pet of mine died - Chewy my pet parrot.

A couple of yrs ago, a close relative of mine was hospitalized after a long battle with a deadly disease. His parents were informed that both his lungs had collapsed and he was hooked up to so many machines. The doctors advised his parents to 'pull the plug' as they say that he was being fed quite a bit of medication so as not to get too much pain. He was not able to talk to us becos of the tubes coming out of his mouth. He was conscious and seems to understood us when we spoke he'd just lay there and cry. No one cld bring themselves to even consider pulling the plug on him. He eventually died abt two weeks later. He was 28.

What if it ws your brother, father or son?

I wouldn't pull the plug under any circumstances, regardless of who it is and how much they beg, cry and suffer.

**Huma** · 07-24-2009, 05:39 AM

I would give it some time and then pull the plug. Leaving someone to suffer, especially someone you love, when they want to be freed, is plain wickedness.

**vaio** · 07-24-2009, 07:46 AM

ok, some clarification:

Euthanasia is generally classified as either "active" or "passive", and as either "voluntary" or "involuntary". Similar to euthanasia is "assisted suicide".

"Passive euthanasia" is usually defined as withdrawing medical treatment with the deliberate intention of causing the patient's death.

"Active euthanasia" is taking specific steps to cause the patient's death, such as injecting the patient with poison. In practice, this is usually an overdose of pain-killers or sleeping pills.

"Voluntary euthanasia" is when the patient requests that action be taken to end his life, or that life-saving treatment be stopped, with full knowledge that this will lead to his death.

"Involuntary euthanasia" is when a patient's life is ended without the patient's knowledge and consent.

In "assisted suicide", a doctor provides a patient with the means to end his own life, but the doctor does not administer it.

http://www.pregnantpause.org/euth/types.htm

**alieninthecaribbean** · 07-24-2009, 08:47 AM

Thanks so much for the clarification. This makes it easier to make a decision.

"Passive euthanasia" is usually defined as withdrawing medical treatment with the deliberate intention of causing the patient's death.

I could have this done to me.
I don't think I could do it to another.

"Active euthanasia" is taking specific steps to cause the patient's death, such as injecting the patient with poison. In practice, this is usually an overdose of pain-killers or sleeping pills.

I could do this to myself
I don't think I do it to another person

"Voluntary euthanasia" is when the patient requests that action be taken to end his life, or that life-saving treatment be stopped, with full knowledge that this will lead to his death.

I could make such a decision for myself.
I would respect someone else's decision if they say, "Enough chemo, I just want to go home,"

"Involuntary euthanasia" is when a patient's life is ended without the patient's knowledge and consent.

No. No. No.

In "assisted suicide", a doctor provides a patient with the means to end his own life, but the doctor does not administer it.

I may ask for this, who knows.
If I were a doctor and a patient asks for it, I may have a conflict of conscience on it.

**guyguy** · 07-24-2009, 12:29 PM

I strongly support Euthanasia and Mercy Killing and Assisted Suicide.

Check this out;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuY5sTe0YF8&fmt=18

**guyguy** · 07-24-2009, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by vaio

What if it ws your brother, father or son?

When my youngest son was about 5 years old, he suffered a Gran Mal seizure one night. Prior to this he had been healthy and as normal as five year-olds could be. As we arrived at the Emergency Room, not ten minutes after the seizure, he stopped breathing. He had to be intubated since he wasn't breathing on his own.

A day later he was transferred to another hospital where he spent a total of 8 days in the pediatric ICU hooked up to a ventilator, a gazillion IVs, and various monitors.

Daily, his condition deteriorated and I was faced with the decision whether or not to terminate his life. His mother was in no condition to think rationally nor did she want her son dead. However, the real possibility of my son not awakening nor being able to lead a relatively "normal" life existed.

I decided that I would "pull the plug" only after one hour of no brain activity - not a second less. This was the most difficult decision I had ever faced and probably would ever face during my lifetime. I agonized over this decision but I rationalized doing so by deciding to donate every usable organ of my son. His eyes would help 2 people to see. His Kidneys could save two people, his heart, one person, his liver, two or more people, his skin could be grafted to dozens of people - maybe children just like him.

My rationalization was that through the death of one little boy, many more people could be saved and that he'd live on through them. That would be his legacy and his death would not be in vain.

**Didi** · 07-24-2009, 01:39 PM

We do not let our pets suffer and give them a shot so they can go to sleep.Wish that was possible for our loved ones that have incurable and painful diseases.

**alieninthecaribbean** · 07-24-2009, 01:53 PM

guyguy, you showed both courage and compassion.

**guyguy** · 07-24-2009, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by alieninthecaribbean

guyguy, you showed both courage and compassion.

Fortunately, just as suddenly as he fell into a coma he awoke, dazed and confused since he had no idea where he was and what had happened. He turned 18 this past February and graduated from High School this past June. Now he's off to College come September.

BTW; I told him what I had decided a couple years ago and he agreed that it would have been the right thing to do.

**Wayne** · 07-24-2009, 04:21 PM

[quote="guyguy"]I strongly support Euthanasia and Mercy Killing and Assisted Suicide.

Dr.Jack Kevorkian (born May 26, 1928) is a former pathologist. He is most noted for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he claims to have assisted at least 130 patients to that end. He famously said that "dying is not a crime."
Between 1999 and 2007, Kevorkian served eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder. He was released on June 1, 2007, on parole due to good behavior......
I am always in agreement with this individual.......

**letric** · 01-31-2012, 04:23 AM

A dear friend of the family has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
He's thinking instead of suffering pain, desires to die or chooses to
die or dying well as he said. We, are trying to dis-suade him from this
form of assisted suicide as it raises numerous moral, social, and
theological questions. His wife died two years ago, no immediate family.
The question is do human beings have the right to choose to die?