It's my life - and when i'm 70 years old dying of cancer and in unbearable pain, if someone doesn't help me do it peacefully i'll be blowing out my brains anyways. I'd love the option to make my death easier on my loved ones. Telling someone they don't have the right to take their own life is like telling someone it's illegal to wipe their ass.

I agree....there are Youth in Asia. Lots of em. They like Hello Kitty and video games....that was the question, right? I wasn't really paying attention.

If I'm going to die a horrible screaming death, you can bet your ass I'd want to be put out of my misery. It's called "mercy".

the only kind of sollution I can think up is to

1) make up laws that restore citizens' rights to be responsible for themselves unless they are proven by trained physician(s!!!) so there will be no doubt that the person wishes to proceed.

2) Make the patient wait several weeks.

and many more i cannot think of now.

the thing is, it is our body. not yours, not the governments, not the sheriff's or our parents... its OUR body. if we wish to destroy it and someone doesn't like it, tough for them it's not their business. and before someone say 'what if its' their kids' or some such, still, ultimately, its the patients business.

its a shitty thing to think of. it is possibly the biggest decision a person can ever make.

i by no means like the idea of someone getting bad news and ending themselves. i would love to think that these ideals would be meditated on for lengthy periods of time; hopefully with loved ones. however, if i had someone in true pain and they begged me for days or weeks and they have no hope or friends or families, put me in jail if you must but I will not allow a fellow person to suffer because they are so sick they cannot do the procedure.

i would hope that anyone who is unwilling to help other people would do the same. how would you like it if you were totally up the creek and someone says 'its not my affair' and walk away?

that's the path of a true blue coward.

its the last thing i'd want to do, but by all means I would. human beings deserve the respect and treatment that they should be provided with, not what our consciounce says.

the idea of a person saying I am not allowed to commit suicide fills me with unimaginable rage. God itself has given me the freedom, who the fuck has the right to take away my right?

Also, if one of my family members asked me to kill them, and they had a legit reason for it (terminal illness most likely), I'd do it. Murder charges or no.

My cousin chose euthanasia after a long battle with terminal cancer. It gave his family much-needed closure and the ability to know when they would have to say goodbye.

I live in the only state in the union with legal doctor-assisted suicide. The people of Oregon have not only passed the law once with a majority, but twice. The last time it passed with a 70% approval. Yet the Bush administration and Attorney General John Ashcroft wish to push their beliefs on our state, and the federal government has tried to stop our law from taking effect several times. (Aren't the Republicans pro-states' rights?)

I fully support euthanasia. I know I would want the choice were I to face such a situation.

Whe a horse breaks its leg, you know it will never heal, and that it is doomed to live the rest of its life in pain. so what do you do? You do the only humane thing: Put the poor thing out of its misery.

It seems like a good idea, but I would be concerned with the incapacitated person and greedy, graspy relatives looking to get the proceeds of the estate or life insurance policy. I think to legalize it just gives those evil persons a possible legal route to obtain proceeds by ill means. If the person can kill himself - there is no legal penalty - no way to punish this "breach" of the law. Also, the aforesaid life insurance companies would want to exclude this method of death from coverage - which may cause som problems with surviving spouses who may have already spent their last dollars on the person's medical care.

there will forever be the chance of people taking advantage and 'assisting' someone for their will... it happens all the time and it'll never quit.

now, isn't it worth the chance of a few abuses and letting the majority have their freedom and will back?

Every man/woman has the right to decide a lot of things in their own life, and when to end it is definately one...

source:http://maddox.xmission.com/hatemail.cgI#PETA

What am I trying to say by posting this quote? SLAUGHTER ANIMALS, of all creatures on the planet, have a better life quality quotient than human beings, the self-proclaimed "top of the food chain", have. Sad.

I'm all for euthanasia, but I believe that there should be a "quality of life requirement", as in, not just anyone can legally kill themselves. It's one thing to have your girlfriend dump you, it's one thing to accidentally forget to dress to go to school (we've all had that dream, right?), it's one thing to lose your megacorp to a ruthless investor. It's a whole 'nother to be sitting in a bed slowly wasting away, unable to do anything and knowing that things are only going to get worse. We need to draw a line.

Why not? Who are you or anyone else to force your values on another person? IMHO that's the question we should all ask ourselves whenever we consider passing a law. We need laws in order have order and to protect the weak from the strong etc. etc. but that doesn't mean that we have the right to restrict anything someone does that we do not agree with. If you don't have control over your life, then it's not worth living is it?

Yep, it should be allowed imo, for most of the reasons already stated very well by others in the thread.

I agree with many of the comments posted here. What I want to emphasize that what seems to summarize most of the comments is that of having an option.

I do not believe in prolonging life when ending that life is a choice that can be made, and I do believe in euthanasia if the person has that choice.

Having lost my father to Alzeiheimers and my mother to Parkinsons, I am extremely sensitive to illnesses that ruin a person mentally as well as physically. My mother was a nurse and a psychiatric technician for most of her life and she made sure that I understood the suffering of people with those types of illnesses. She never realized that that understanding would apply to her.

[ sarcasm ]
wow. some people know exactly what another person should or should not do with their own free will.

i'm so impressed.

[ / sarcasm ]

Quoted from http://www.normemma.com/indxadvo.htm#Tracy

"Tracy Latimer was a 12 year old girl with cerebral palsy who lived with her family on a farm near Wilkie, Saskachewan. On Oct 24, 1993, Tracy's father, Robert Latimer, decided that Tracy's life wasn't worth living. He placed Tracy in the cab of his truck and fed carbon monoxide into the cab. Initially he claimed that Tracy died in her sleep but later confessed that he killed her for merciful reasons. Over the last 8 years of court proceedings, there has been a huge debate in the Canadian Public whether Robert Latimer should serve a jail sentence for murdering his daughter."

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind on this subject. Hell, if given the choice, and in a great deal of inoperable pain, I'd probably choose euthanasia too. But Tracy Latimer didn't get a choice, her father decided for her.

Many people in the disability community are afraid of the same thing: some doctor, guardian or loved one deciding that their life is too painful to continue. If euthanasia is made legal, it's a very short step to this. Many bioethicists are already saying that the lives of the severely disabled is too painful for them and too expensive for society. How messed up does that sound to you?

WHile I could easily join in on the chorus of "My body, my rights" I thought it was important to bring up another point. Take a look at the link and tell me your thoughts.

The father should be charged with murder.

as some, or at least I have stated, there should be no laws against offing yourself or having assistance so you CAN do it without having issues with foul play (or at least few issues).

she was 12. even if it were legal I'd imagine they would investigate, talk about, and consider the case several times before accepting.

the sittuation is so extreeme it is difficult to comment on.

Right. My concern, (and from what I've read, the concern of many in the disabilities community) is that it wouldn't be that extreme if euthanasia were made legal.

It's easy to imagine a doctor or guardian of someone with severe disabilities saying, "This person is in extreme pain at all times. Their quality of life is very poor. Therefore I feel they should be euthanized." All this being done without involvement of the person themselves.

And let me make this clear, I'm not saying that supporters of euthanasia are wrong, I just feel this point needs to be addressed.

I don't think that Euthenasia would ever be simply a free for all killing frenzy, with people testifying in court "But he TOLD me to lethaly stab him 14 in the chest". I think that it should be highly controlled, with a proper diagnosis of a person's mental health, their ability to make a decision etc. And the actual deed should be a lethal injection (or somehting similar) adminstered by a professional.

i'm been driving a powerchair for 21 years, so I understand.:)

i definatly see your point. and I, at the moment, do not have any suggestion whatsoever.

damn, you're the only poster to totally make me go 'uhh.. there is no answer'

I just hate these Holier Than Thous who tell some dibilated old person who has sores the side of a dinner plate and no family or friends and is laying in her own feces that she can't just Go To Sleep.

I believe a bunch of people have no idea about the horrors that happen daily in some nursing homes...

its such a damned if you agree/damned if you don't sittuation....

I say yes. Someone should be in control of his/her own life. A painless proven method is better than trying to do it on your own.

After watching my grandmother go through an aneurysm, survive it (althought not exactly the same person she used to be) and then only to fall to prey to lung cancer... it was horrible. I would have rather her died peacefully than have to go through the kemo and all the procedures.

i dont think it should just be said it's legal. only with circumstances should it b ok. but it's not a yes/no thing

i completely agree. it's the persons life and they should be allowed to choose when the quality of life gets very bad

Do I agree with Euthanasia? No. I insist on Euthanasia.














:D

I agree

I do support it, but provided that it is that person's choice and that person's alone. I can see how it could lead to doctors who kill and say their patients asked them to do so.

I've been in the situation where both of my parents died of cancer fairly recently - and fortunately (it sounds awfully cruel, but it's at time of conflicting feelings) enough both slipped away fairly quickly, without the lingering that some go through - it's very hard on the family, and very hard on the individual. I'm for it - but the laws need to be very carefully crafted...

My vote is "yes" and that vote is coming from a survivalist at all costs kind of person. But if an individual is congnoscent (sp?) enough to make a rational decision then -- "Hell Ya". Who wants to live in eternal hell? Certainly not me -- If the pain and suffering is that great than I'm all for it. You certainly would put a dog out of its misery -- why not let someone you love make that decision for themselves?

I think we're on the same page on this one Z. I don't have an answer either.

Just good to know someone's as confused as me. :D