Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands. Here's the flip-side.
Euthanasia for humans, is it right or wrong?
by FreedomFrog 59 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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talley
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are really two different subjects to me.To me personally, euthanasia is someone else making the decision to end my life regardless of my state of mind or permission or lack thereof, and then taking specific actions to accomplish my speedy demise.
Assisted suicide is my deciding to end my life and needing another's help to accomplish what I choose to do when and how I choose to do it.
And here is a true story of a combination of the two. My Mom had a massive brain bleed while in a restaurant; her heart stoped and she stoped breathing. Unfortuantly (I know Mom would say) there were two policemen having lunch and they performed CPR and called the ambulance. When I arrived at the hospital the helicopter was already sitting on the pad waiting to take her to a much larger metro facility. The ER Doc had her records and directives and was waiting for me to arrive to either concur or disregard her specific written directive. She had made it plain in writing what she wanted (Do Not Resussitate, no amputations-she was diabetic, no organ transplants, no tube feeding, etc.) Mom was moved to a room and an IV inserted with a very slow drip, just to keep the needle open.
Later that afternoon she 'upchucked' and aspirated some of the iced tea she had had earlier and they could not get it all out of her lungs. The rattling with every breath was pathetic and very unnerving. One of the nurses told me that a couple of them were going to have DNR tatooed on their collar bones when they thought it appropriate so that the police/good samaritans would have direction.
The next day I saw that the nurse would come in every two hours to give her a small injection in the IV and I asked what it was. Told it was 2cc. morphine to ease her breathing and I made the comment, "Too bad we can't save up several doses of that and give it at one time; Mom would like that." Twenty minutes later the nurse was back, said she had told the Doc what I had said and that she was here to give Mom more morphine. The 10cc. syringe looked to have about 8cc. in it. Mom stopped breathing 15 minutes later and slipped quietly away. She would have been 80 years old in another week. Her greatest fear was the possibility of being helpless and in pain in a nursing home .
Her massive stroke occured in one of her favorite eateries, she was dressed very fashionably, had her good jewlery on, was socializing with a friend, and her car was parked right out side.....just the way she wanted to go.....except for not wearing or having a DNR bracelet or medical card in her wallet.
Here's to ya Mom, Thanks for the memories and life, and Godspeed.
Judy
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MsMcDucket
"Mitigating circumstances" would qualify as "limits", don't you think?
Yes.
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Snoozy
After seeing so many of my loved ones suffer so much before they died..I would strongly support it!
No pain medicine helps in those last few weeks...
If someone thinks it does they are wrong. It just makes the patient quieter but I think they still feel the pain. Just can't tell you because they are so doped up.
Snoozy Q...
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Satanus
Her massive stroke occured in one of her favorite eateries, she was dressed very fashionably, had her good jewlery on, was socializing with a friend, and her car was parked right out side.....just the way she wanted to go
Yup, makes sense to me.
Imo, a good death is important. I should have the right to choose the time, place and how, if i want to.
S
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Mysterious
Suicide, at least here, is not illegal. This says to me that everyone has the right to choose to die if they wish. Now if someone chooses to die but is physically unable to carry it out I think their rights should still be upheld.
Even more so, consider how many suicides get botched and result in even more pain for the person trying to die. Wouldn't it be better to provide a quick, painless alternative. As for abuses of the vulnerable there simply needs to be safeguards in place that ensure that it doesn't get abused, the potential for abuse should not eliminate a policy once and for all.
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MsMcDucket
If someone thinks it does they are wrong. It just makes the patient quieter but I think they still feel the pain. Just can't tell you because they are so doped up.
Snoozy, I beg to differ. God, when I was on the vent they had me paralyzed. My mind was awake, but I couldn't move. A good anesthesiologist does have their ways. Look it up. ---Anesthesiologist and pain control--- I think the last thing that they will do is sever a spinal nerve to stop the pain....I'm not sure, but look it up.
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FreedomFrog
No offense, FF, but you're doing your assignment a disservice by mixing another controversial subject with your main topic. If you are advocating a "pro-life" agenda respecting abortion, essentially saying that a woman cannot decide what happens to her body, how do you reconcile that with a "pro-choice" agenda regarding euthanasia, which advocates the individual's right to control their death?
No offense takin' hun. That's why I started this thread; to weed out things I see can cause trouble. And that's one of them. Those two subjects in themselves are big controversies. I know where I stand on the freedom of whether we should choose to die or live, but to what point do I feel is crossing that line? I don't think there should be "clinics" like they do for abortions. Will it come to that in the future? There are different degrees as to when it would be the "right" time a person should have that option. Who is to decide? Like many of you have stated, some of you have been in pain and now are out of it. Some wouldn’t be here today if they were able to decide at that moment. Maybe exhaust all options first before taking that final stand?
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MsMcDucket
There are different degrees as to when it would be the "right" time a person should have that option. Who is to decide? Like many of you have stated, some of you have been in pain and now are out of it. Some wouldn’t be here today if they were able to decide at that moment. Maybe exhaust all options first before taking that final stand?
Many people suffer from depression, anxiety, and delusion (from medication, pain, illness). It's really a bad time to make a decision. I've seen people make themselves DNR's, and the next week when they've pulled through the worst part, change the order. Also, I've seen people that should have been DNR's, not be. There's nothing worst than doing CPR on a 70 or 80 year old person. Sometimes, you crack their ribs while doing compressions....
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Sad emo
Interesting turn in the debate, comparing with abortion. (limit in the UK is 24 weeks or thereabout )
I don't think we can make direct comparison between the rights and wrongs of two such diverse and emotive issues, but for a general comparison to think about, the UK Abortion Act was passed (rightly imho) to remove the backstreet trade and with strict limits - such as mother's health in danger etc. However, abortion seems to have been gradually reduced here to another form of birth control - the limits which were set have been distorted to suit needs - for example many, I believe (please someone correct me if I'm wrong - don't bbq me!) are carried out under the clause of 'risk of psychological trauma to the mother'.
My fear in relation to legalising euthanasia is that ANY limits put in place could very well be open to the same sort of misuse.
*emo runs and takes cover with mouthy*