I was late for work this morning, because I got stuck in Zeno's paradox.
Sky TV aired a show yesterday, in which an elderly sick man spoke about his decision to end his life, and it caused a lot of controversy. Assisted suicide is illegal in almost every country, except for Switzerland.
I remember a case some years ago, about a young guy who was injured in a motorcycle crash and was in a coma. After a few months his parents decided to remove him from the life support system, and literally seconds before this was done he woke up. Imagine how his parents must have felt knowing that if they would have acted a bit faster they might have lost their son. And how do other families feel thinking that perhaps if they would have waited a bit longer they might have regained their loved one.
I can understand that a person who is sick and suffering would feel that they have no quality of life, and there is nothing for them to live for. And I can understand their desire to end it all. But I think that most people do not consider the implications of this act, or the pain that it would cause their family.
Never be afraid to try, remember...
Yes, I also read about this program. It looked very interesting. I think that it is one of the most complex issues that exist, and that every situation is a bit differnt. For example, take the movie "Million Dollar Baby"... this young woman risked everything and had nothing but boxing. She gave everything, and came seconds away from being the world champion, when her competitor hit her from behind (and illegal move, they were on a break), and she broke her neck on a chair. She would be parylized for her entire life, and would always be in a bed, because she couldn't breathe on her own. Then, they had to cut off her leg from it getting infected. In short, she asked her coach, who became more like a father-figure for her, to put her to sleep, like a dog. It's hard to not sympathize with her. I think that there are some situations where it is up to the person, and that they should have a right to end it all.
The thing is that "no man is an island". What about a person's family? It may be a selfish attitude, but a thing like that has repercussions that many people don't take into account. I wouldn't like to think that a member of my own family trusted me so little that they preferred to end their life rather than let me take care of them.
And not only that, there is research that shows that if someone commits suicide then there is a much higher chance that someone in their circle (family, friends, other kids at school etc) will commit suicide.
It is a slippery slope. How long will it be before someone decides that an aged relative is a burden and would be better off ending it all. How far does the assisted part of assisted suicide go?
I don't disagree with you. I just think that there are some situations, like the one I mentioned from the movie, where there is nothing that can be done for the person. In their mind, their life is over. Family will only see them suffer. They will never leave the hospital, they will never really live again. This tortures everyone, the person laying there and all the people that love this person, that have to watch him/her suffer. I guess I just feel that come a certain extent (and you're right that it's hard to know where to draw a line), the person has a right to say that they just don't want to do it anymore.
It is the patient's life. They have a right to do what they want. If avoiding suffering is more important to them, it's their call to make. I think a lot of families don't appreciate how helpless and hopeless some conditions are, how miserable the life is of the person, how inadequate pain control is for so many people. Families need to respect the person who's going through the experience of dying.
In all area of the united states murder is illegal. Murder of someone outside of your family or a family member or even of yourself is and should be illegal. It is also illegal to help plan or be the accomplise to murder. There is no difference between suicide, assisted suicide and murder. Therefore suicide and assisted suicide (murder), are illegal in almost all areas of the US & the rest of the world. It should be illegal in all of the United States for both the reason on law and morals.
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I agree that the choice to end one's own life is a selfish one, and should be. It's wrong to continue to breathe while in intense pain, mental and emotional anguish, and without hope, for the sake of someone else. (Just as it is wrong to allow yourself to be abused for the sake of someone else, or to bring a child into a loveless, violent, hopeless situation for the sake of someone else.) At some point, we have to make decisions about our own lives based on what life means to us.
Assisted suicide is not the same as "pulling the plug" when a person is brain-dead or in a persistent vegetative state. "Pulling the plug" is legal in many cases, and preferable when the only impact the person's existance has is mounting medical bills and delay of the natural grieving process. Assisted suicide involves the conscious decision to end one's life, made by the patient himself. It's not something that is "done to" the person. It is something the person chooses. Who are any of us to decide when life is or is not worth continuing? It's easy to say, "You can take it," when you're not the one taking it.
I think that the ultimate in selfishness is forcing a person to live in pain because you can't handle letting go. What are these lawmakers and family members doing to these people? The end result is the same. The only difference is whether the person goes as he chooses, with dignity, surrounded by loved ones, or sitting in a puddle of fluids nine years later, completely vulnerable and wasted away, alone (because many people with chronic, degenerative conditions do die alone or with only a spouse to support them; people eventually say it's "too hard" to visit) having felt nothing but agony. I would not allow that to happen to anyone I love. They deserve better.
And as for me, I have a living will. None of you will decide what happens to me. I will. That's the way it should be. When we don't decide for ourselves, we give that power to someone else, and we have no control over ourselves.
"Who are any of us to decide when life is or is not worth continuing?" That is exactly my point. Assisted suicide is a form of euthanasia, like it or not, and neither you nor I nor anyone have the right to decide where the line is drawn. And yes it may be a selfish way of looking at things, but don't tell me that the suicide of someone close to you doesn't have any effect. You can tell yourself all you like that they were suffering and that it is for their own comfort, but sooner or later you will have to face up to what it does to you and to other members of your family.
When my dog was sick and dying and the vet said that he should be put down I couldn't bring myself to make that decision, because I'm not convinced that he would have made it had he been able to. And I hope that I will never be in a situation where I'll have to help a family member with a decision like that.
It's one thing to make a living will when you're young and healthy and it is only a theoretical possibility. You might find that when the time comes you're willing to suffer a bit more rather than end it all.
EMS...
EAT...SLEEP...
SAVE LIVES...
I feel it should be left up to the person who is sick and suffering. It is their life and they should have the right to choose how it ends.
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