More states are considering bills allowing medically assisted death this year

[Desk trauma]

It’s not really when you are terminal and two weeks is all it takes. It’s very dignified And noble. Why not chemically induce a coma they don’t suffer then. With draw feeding and life support. Keep the pain meds flowing.

So long as it’s slow enough it’s ok, right…

 

[comana]

It’s not really when you are terminal and two weeks is all it takes. It’s very dignified And noble. Why not chemically induce a coma they don’t suffer then. With draw feeding and life support. Keep the pain meds flowing.

Why is your opinion of a good way to go out, better than what an individual feels is best for themselves?

You are free to choose as you described for yourself when your time comes, but you don’t get to decide for others not entrusted to your care and decision making.

 

[Unqualified]

As @FireDragon76 said suicide and murder are wrong we don’t have to go there. The idea of medicine is to keep people alive not kill them. Murdering and and suicide is immoral and unethical for modern professionals. A medically induced coma would elevate suffering while having the dignity of life. No further inputs and just let them die a natural death. You would Have hospice to supervise.

 

[Desk trauma]

As @FireDragon76 said suicide and murder are wrong we don’t have to go there. The idea of medicine is to keep people alive not kill them. Murdering and and suicide is immoral and unethical for modern professionals. A medically induced coma would elevate suffering while having the dignity of life. No further inputs and just let them die a natural death. You would Have hospice to supervise.

Which is no different than other methods of assisted death except for the length of time needed.

 

[stevil]

It’s not really when you are terminal and two weeks is all it takes. It’s very dignified And noble. Why not chemically induce a coma they don’t suffer then. With draw feeding and life support. Keep the pain meds flowing.

Could you imagine.
A person takes their cat into the vet after it was hit by a car.
The vet says it's spine is shattered and that the cat will eventually die and that it is in a lot of pain.

They give the owner the option
1) Euthanise the cat, it is painless and just takes a few minutes.
2) give it painkillers and starve it to death over two weeks.

I wonder what cat owner would choose option 2?

 

[Diamond7]

I think more and more, people have seen first hand how nasty "dying naturally" can be

They tried to get me to end my life in the emergency room. All I needed was an operation and I am fine (restored) now.

 

[Diamond7]

Which is no different than other methods of assisted death except for the length of time needed.

Depends on the dose, esp. with fentanyl. My dad was a pediatrician. I can only image how it would be difficult for me to prescribe the right dose for an infant. He was very good at math.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

They tried to get me to end my life in the emergency room. All I needed was an operation and I am fine (restored) now.

Yes - you had the choice, and you made yours. No one is proposing taking that choice away.

 

[Desk trauma]

They tried to get me to end my life in the emergency room. All I needed was an operation and I am fine (restored) now.

This fiction again.

 

[stevil]

This fiction again.

They probably asked if the patient wanted to sign a DNR or if you are giving them permission to do surgery (just standard stuff) It seems very awkward to suggest or imply that in the ER they give you the option to have the doctors do assisted end of life.

 

[Desk trauma]

They probably asked if the patient wanted to sign a DNR or if you are giving them permission to do surgery (just standard stuff) It seems very awkward to suggest or imply that in the ER they give you the option to have the doctors do assisted end of life.

They have told the story before, that’s what they said happened not asking about a DNR.

 

[Whyayeman]

Are you familiar with the ethical principle of Double Effect? If a person is terminally ill, and in so much intense, intractable pain that only a potentially lethal dose of pain medication can end their pain, then it is ethical to administer the medication, because the intention is to alleviate pain, with the consequence that they will die. This is different from the logic of euthanasia, where a person simply wants to die because they are afraid, depressed, or facing social pressures to end their life.

Nobody has suggested medically assisted dying for people suffering from depression, fear or social pressures.

Three straw men arguments at once!

 

[ThatRobGuy]

They tried to get me to end my life in the emergency room. All I needed was an operation and I am fine (restored) now.

Sorry, maybe I'm just a natural skeptic, but I find this claim to be a bit suspicious. (perhaps you can provide some high level details and set the record straight)

..., in racking my brain, I'm not coming up with any ER-type situation in which a patient is coherent enough to be presented with such an option, and especially not for one where the patient can be "fine" with a simple operation.

Your profile mentions Akron... I too live in the NE Ohio area. Ohio isn't one of the 11 states that even allow it.

So, if a doctor was trying to offer up physician assisted end of life services as an option at a Summa, Cleveland Clinic, or MetroHealth ER location, you'd better get on the phone with a lawyer because that doctor broke state law.


Or is this as case where you're giving a false impression here and intentionally misconstruing some other thing as "physician assisted suicide"?

For instance, if a patient goes into an ER with a ruptured appendix, it's still ultimately their choice whether or not to accept the terms of the surgery (paperwork, etc...) and it's still their option to refuse the surgery (which will lead to death), because they have an option to live or die, that's not the same as a doctor offering up medically assisted death.

(Also, things like "they tried to talk me into taking this medicine/vaccine/treatment that I don't want to take, because I think that stuff will kill ya" isn't them "offering up end of life services" either, nor are the legal documents asking people if they want to refuse resuscitation or blood transfusions.)

 

[FireDragon76]

No one is asking you personally to do anything, certainly not approve, but it is an individual’s choice. It is not up to you, me, or the state to determine the value of a person’s life, that is for the person to decide.

Come on now... If people really want to kill themselves, they can do it the old fashioned way. They do not need the state or medical profession to ultimately help them. What this is really about, is a culture of albeism and ageism seeking to normalize those attitudes into law.

If they have weeks to live and each of those remaining weeks is a prospect that person does not want to live through, well it is their choice. If a doctor prescribes a medication to hasten this, where it is legal, then that is merciful care.

In every country that these kinds of laws have been enacted in, it's ultimately affected more than people in their final weeks.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Come on now... If people really want to kill themselves, they can do it the old fashioned way. They do not need the sanction of the state or the medical profession to sacramentalize their "choice".

I've heard that argument before... but it fails to account for a lot of things.

When done with medical assistance, there's the benefit of the "controlled environment" factor.

If I were a stage 4 cancer patient with 3 months to live (with no hope for a cure), and made that decision to pursue medically assisted death (which I would), doing it that would allow me to have a conversation with my family, explain to them why I'm doing it, allow people to brace themselves for it, and know that it's happening under professional supervision "They'll give me a series of injections, and I'll peacefully go to sleep"

The "old fashioned way" that you describe involves one's family coming home out of the blue to see a note on the table and, and one's brains splattered halfway up the wall -- that they have to clean up (or to find their relative in a bathtub next to a kitchen knife with a massive gash on their wrist).


That'd be like saying "why does someone need to go to a dentist for the more controlled/clean approach?, there's nothing stopping them from grabbing a pair of rusty plyers out of the drawer and yanking their own tooth out."

 

[Hans Blaster]

Come on now... If people really want to kill themselves, they can do it the old fashioned way. They do not need the state or medical profession to ultimately help them.

Assuming the person is physically capable of successfully executing their self-termination in the old fashion way there are several advantages to a legally sanctioned method for some individuals:

1. It avoids the intervention of the legal authorities responding to a suicide: police investigation, autopsy, etc.
2. It permits a cleaner execution of post-mortem disposal (funeral planning, organ donation, etc.)
3. It avoids family shock. Sure they might know you will die in a couple months, but if you can say your good-byes without an intervention from the suicide prevention squad that would help too.

What this is really about, is a culture of albeism and ageism seeking to normalize those attitudes into law.

It isn't. No one calling for basic P.A.S. is calling for a general right to medical assistance in death just because you are over 70 or qualify as disabled. This is paranoia.

 

[stevil]

Come on now... If people really want to kill themselves, they can do it the old fashioned way.

Are some people just willfully ignorant or do they just clutch at straws to justify their illogical position?

This post is just so poorly thought out.

 

[Diamond7]

rhaps you can provide some high level details

1. I am not going to go into detail. 20 years ago I had afib and they put in a defibulator pacemaker. Recently I passed out and the doctor told me I would have died but the defibulator revived me. But they said I had VTech. This is a life threatening situation and the doctor must of felt I was going to die. Anyways, don't believe me, I do not care. I do not want to talk to a skeptic about my situation.

 

[Diamond7]

This fiction again.

According to the Chief of the fire dept. if the heart is not working when they get there they have a one in 1200 chance of using the defibulator to get the heart going again. So my odds of survival were far less than 1%. I asked the fire chief in another city and he said the odds are 1 in 1500. That leads me to believe it takes them longer to get there. This was around five am, so they would have been asleep at the time.

 

[Diamond7]

Yes - you had the choice, and you made yours. No one is proposing taking that choice away.

The Bible is very clear, LIfe is ALWAYS the right choice. But yes, God does give us that choice. We make many many choices in life. Our life is filled with choices and we all know how important it is to make the right choice. It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas supernatural drama film talks about what would the world be like if we were not a part of it.

Deuteronomy 30:19

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live