Last year my partners mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Throughout this time she has been constantly on morphine through a pump, but in and out of periods of pain. We received the news this week that it has now spread to vital organs and will eventually shut them down over a period of time, there is no chance of cure. Also given the news because she is very young and never had a history of health problems it will be a lengthy drawn out time. I also watched my grandfather pass a few years back also of terminal cancer. Someone who was strong and never had a weak bone in his body suddenly diagnosed and in two months was in agony (regardless of the enormous amounts of morphine), reduced to a shell of his former self and died in a matter of months in an undignified way. Euthanasia is illegal here, and not offered. I feel that it is every individuals right to request a less painful ending to ones life when being told there is no cure. Why let them go through all the pain and drag what dignity they have left with it. It is needless suffering and morally wrong. If you are told there is no cure and you are going to die then there should be a stage in the process when you can request euthanasia. Formally have it written on paper so there is no confusion... Freedom of speech is one thing - Freedom of ones life is another.... Euthanasia (from Ancient Greek: ευθανασία, "good death") is the practice of ending the life of a terminally ill person in a painless or minimally painful way, for the purpose of limiting suffering. Laws around the world vary greatly with regard to euthanasia and are constantly subject to change as cultural values shift and better palliative care or treatments become available. It is legal in some nations, while in others it may be criminalized.
That is so sad, sorry your family is going through that. I would not want a long drawn out death especially if I were confined to a hospital. She should be able to make that decision in my opinion.
I agree, this should be an option for terminally ill people. Why should we make them suffer just because we believe "our God" would disapprove?
I agree with everything you said dimeadozen. Not that long ago someone very close to me in my family died of lung cancer. It was as agonising for us to watch her deteriorate as it was for her to endure her pain and lack of breath. By the end we were praying that she would drift off into a deep sleep and not wake up - she was feeling exactly the same way. It would have been an act of mercy to cut short her months of irreparable discomfort.
To the coward who neg. repped me outside P&R for what I thought was a light hearted response to this serious topic... Get a life. We've all lost someone we loved, and there is a good chance that the person could have and should been spared suffering. My family faced this issue 16 months ago when my father had a brain injury and was in a coma. My post may have been above your head, and you clearly missed the point. When you make Euthanasia legal, how do you prevent people from abusing it, people who are looking for a legal, easy and convenient way to book out? Who determines how much pain is too much? Who decides on behalf of someone else when the time to give up is? Sometimes, I read the most brilliant stuff in this forum. And others, I can't believe how shallow people are that they can't read between the lines, or prevent themselves from knee jerk reacting.
I really don't have a major problem with euthanasia. If someone is terminal and not going to live anyways, I think its their right to kill themselves. My aunt's last years were miserable attached to respirators and stuff in a nursing home. Combined with alzheimers, that's not a good end of life there. Given the choice, in that situation, I'd rather not be around. Doctors should have the choice of not performing the services though - I certainly wouldn't force a doctor to do such a thing.
Dime-a-dozen, sorry about your partner's mom... I've got some strong feelings about euthanasia, but it would take a long time to type it all out... basically, the "Oregon’s Death with Dignity law" is the closest thing we have to what I think is fair...
I got you were saying and am sorry someone felt they needed to penalize you for your opinion. And yes I also had the same questions of when is the right time etc etc , but I think it is when you think your dignity is lost so you would say in paper that when this happens I dont want to be here anymore.. It's just wrong - why live a life and then drag it out in pain because of a law. You dont owe the government anything, you dont need to show them that you have lived your last breathe fighting against the obvious outcome , no one should have to do it if they dont want to .
Living each day out in pain is not living. where is the quality of life? there isn't any. All because of the law. There should be a right to choose. If you have ever seen someone who is in pain 24 hours a day you wouldn't hesitate to make that choice
Not so lengthy as was told she passed 20 September 2007 and her funeral was yesterday very beautiful, but to watch the last week of her life was very agonizing and Euthanasia should be legalized to prevent this...
Should be legal. Let people decide their lives for themselves; when we don't allow them a peaceful death in dignity, they either live out their days in extreme pain or take matters into their own hands jumping off buildings and walking in front of buses. Just let them live (and die) their own lives.