Physician Assisted Suicide

Use this forum to discuss the October Book of the Month "McDowell" by William H. Coles.
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BookishCreature
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Re: Physician Assisted Suicide

Post by BookishCreature »

I am completely for physician-assisted suicide if the patient is of sound mind and has gone through some therapy sessions with a trained counselor to be absolutely sure that s/he wants to end his or her life. We allow our pets the dignity of a painless death instead of a horrible, prolonged decline - I think people deserve the same.
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Post by Highly Favoured One »

The only person with the right to take away life is the One who gave it - God. Issues of suicide and euthanasia are indeed painful and complicated, but no-one should try to put themselves in the place of God to decide who gets to live and who doesnt. Our role should be to do our best to preserve life and ease suffering every way we can, and support those affected by life issues.
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Post by Beatus »

What I see here is that we perceive death to be bad and life to be good. The arguments are presented within this parameter. However, there are a lot of factors that are not known like the will and reason to live, death, life (probably all of us don't even know what life means), etc. Moreover, some factors are not considered like finances, support from relatives, pain, etc. With this in mind, the discussion about euthanasia should continue. It is the only way we as a human society grow.
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Post by Louanne Piccolo »

I am for euthanasia if a suffering person requests it. There are some levels of pain that cannot be alleviated and are impossible to tolerate. Living through each minute of each day while wanting to die is a terrible thing to expect of someone who has no quality of life.
It's a controversial issue with no easy answer but this is my opinion on it.
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Post by 00LynnMarie »

I absolutely think that if someone is terminal and suffering they should be able to die how they wish. This is a controversial topic, but I definitely feel a person shouldn't have to suffer. What gives other people the right to decide what a dying person's quality of life is, or how much suffering is too much? After watching cancer take the life of someone I love, destroying them slowly from the inside until they were unrecognizable, I will always vote for ending suffering. It's easy to say that you would never be an advocate of physician-assisted suicide until you are holding the hand of someone you love who is in unimaginable pain and is begging to die. It definitely tipped the scales for me as to whether or not it should be legal.
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Post by C-Extra22 »

I disagree entirely with his view about physician assisted suscide. What he did was without the child's consent.
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Post by Hiruni Bhagya 81 »

No one has the right to take away the life of another person or himself. But when you are doing a deed, your intentions matter the most. A physician who only have equanimity towards their patients, and aids in a physician assisted suicide acts out of compassion for his patient. So, their might not be any fault lying with him. But, McDowell has a relationship with the patient. Therefore we can't be sure whether he acted as the physician out of compassion or as the grandfather, to whom the patient was an embarrassment and a cause of grief for his daughter.
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Post by Ghost11111 »

I agree with McDowell's view of euthanasia. If someone is nearing the end of their life and is in terrible pain or unable to interact with the world, wouldn't it be more humane to put them out of their suffering. People have no issue with putting a pet to sleep once its quality of life has diminished to the point that it is cruel to keep them in that state. Why should people be treated with less respect then we do animals. If someone is completely against the idea, they can have a legal document prepared in advance that says they are against it and would like to be kept alive by all means necessary which is already in practice with DNR orders.
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Post by Kansas City Teacher »

While I can understand why some people adamantly defend the "right to die" , I do not agree with it. There is only one life, and across the board, I think that life is given, and should not be taken, no matter what - if the person begs you, if the person is unwanted and presents potential obstacles, or if they have committed unspeakable crimes. For most people, they will the ones who have to look at themselves every day. For the ones who don't care, they will get what they deserve. Maybe here, but certainly later.
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Post by maggi3 »

I believe in physician assisted suicide, but not the way that McDowell did it. From what I remember, he did not have consent. Without consent, it is simply murder. There are circumstances where euthanasia is acceptable, but McDowell did not have the right to make that decision in this case.
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Post by Choine »

I do not agree with Hiram's reasoning behind physician-assisted suicide. He was not one of the doctors on the case for Jeremy, so I do not agree that it was his decision to make. Also, Jeremy was unconscious and unresponsive at the time. There is no way to know if Jeremy would have wanted that at the time or if he would regret his decision the first time.
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Post by Kansas City Teacher »

Whew....I do not think any human should be "assisted" in ending his / her own life. Like the previous poster said, doctors are there to provide comfort and healing.
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Post by Namaste23 »

I think if I had an opinion it would be on a case by case basis. In Jeremy's case, I believe what McDowell did was wrong. I was not expecting it at all.
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Post by HanElizabeth397 »

a9436 wrote: 02 Oct 2018, 04:15
AliceofX wrote: 02 Oct 2018, 01:19
Sakilunamermaid wrote: 01 Oct 2018, 19:02 I think assisted suicide is acceptable when someone has no quality of life or their every moment is suffering.
The problem is who gets to decide what is quality of life and what isn't. The Nazis thought that the disabled and mentally ill were better off dead. I'm not saying that it would automatically turn into a system where everyone not deemed fit is killed, but no system is without abuse. For some people, that's just too much power to give to anyone.
I agree that it is a terrifying amount of power to give, but there is a big difference between the Nazi atrocities, in which the victims had no say, and what happens at least in Switzerland today, where absolute consent is a must and people administer the drugs themselves. Personally, I do not have a problem with voluntary euthanasia as I cannot judge the pain nor understand the situation anyone else is in, but I would be sceptical of a doctor taking that decision on anyone's behalf.
I agree with this - I don't think the doctor should be able to make the decision on behalf of the patient because as the previous person sais 'who gets to decide what quality of life and what isn't'. But I do think that if the person wants to end their life but isn't in a position to be able to do it and they want to end their own suffering/pain then assisted suicide could be acceptable.
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Post by Readinggrl18 »

Whether or not I understand his reasons, it is against the law. In some ways it can be viewed as merciful. Jeremy was badly injured, scarred for life, troubled and branded. In other ways no one can know what is in another person's mind. To take another persons life is murder. Doctors are supposed to heal and help. One could argue that they are helping in these cases but there is a difference between not prolonging a life and purposely ending it.
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