Assisted Suicide back in the NewsPosted Saturday, February 26, 2011, at 11:59 AM
This is a subject that gives you pause, time to think. Some might find that assisted suicide is humane while others might not think of it that way. I don't know how I stand on this subject, I am still undecided..... I do know that If I end up with no quality of life, I probably wouldn't mind a little help to slip over to the other side. Oregon approved assisted suicide back in 1998. and the drug used to help those from this life is pentobarbital. This drug had been used in 200 of the 525 assisted suicide's in Oregon since 98. Starting in March it will be used to execute inmates in Ohio because there is a shortage of the drug sodium thiopental. Pentobarbital is also used to induce surgical coma's and in euthanizing pets Getting back to the Assisted Suicide not only is it legal in Oregon but its also legal in Montana and Washington States. The Idaho Attorney General says current Idaho law doesn't make it clear whether it's legal or illegal. Sen. Russ Fulcher, R-Meridian Said it isn't going to happen here Senator Fulcher has sponsored SB 1070 which will keep in place the wishes of those who have living wills while not honoring assisted suicide. Doctors when taking their oath say "Do No Harm" http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/fe... My Mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease back in 2000 a very cruel disease. She was living in Arizona..... When my Step-Father died I brought her to Idaho where she lived with us until she became to difficult for me to be her caregiver She lived in an assistant living home for awhile, until she had a stroke that landed her in the Nursing Home. When my Mother was in the Nursing Home I spend a lot of time there and seen how many of our seniors life's had come to an end My Mother was almost 92 years when her life ended. Each day I went there I could see her deteriorating more and more as time went by because of her wicked disease Before she died she had no quality of life, she was lingering. She could no longer walk, or talk, nor could she dress & feed herself. She was fed Nutritious Shakes to keep her alive sometimes she couldn't even get them down as she sometimes lost her ability to swallow. I hated seeing her this way. This once active woman who raised 3 children who enjoyed life, went on Cruises in her senior years and was a fun person to be around. Besides going on Cruises she traveled and took many trips... She once took a trip to Nashville with some friends of hers, and I have a picture of her standing on the stage at the Grand Old Opera. She had almost 92 years of living would it have been wrong to assist her out of this world and into another place? I know she couldn't be enjoying the way she was living or even if she was aware that she still was alive. Is it kind to help our loved ones this way or is this another form of Murder? Was Jack Kevorikian the right to die activist an Angel or a Devil? Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
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It is my believe that a person's death is the most private thing they have. It doesn't belong to ANYONE else but them.
Like many others, I have a living will instructing that if I have to be kept alive on a machine and the doctors deem there is no chance for recovery-------that my plug be pulled.
That being said, not EVERYBODY thinks that far ahead and should there be an accident or something that leaves that person in an "irreversable" situation like that, where there is NO such standing order, I think the family should be allowed to pull the plug, and allow the person to die on their own, or if it be God's will-----recover.
We should NOT have them executed. (someone might have their relative HASTILY "assisted" because they stand to inherit a huge will), where that person MIGHT have recovered on their own with the machinery turned off............and that HAS happened.
In a case like that. if they are going to die, I think they should die "un-assisted."
My oldest son was killed in an automobile accident five days before his 21st birthday. He was brain-dead at the hospital and the doctors were keeping him alive pending my notification. There was severe damage, no brain wave and the machine was merely breathing for him. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make, but I had to put myself in his place.
I told the doctors to pull the plug. If God wanted him with HIM, HE would make it so. If not, he would recover on his own. But I would never have had him killed by an "assisted injection" I think something like that WOULD have been murder.
My opinion only..........
Zook I am so sorry to hear about your son, I cannot imagine how it feels to loose a child especially so young... That had to have been a very difficult time for you and his Mom...
I would never want some one young to be helped to their death. I am thinking more about the old ones who have lived long lives and will die soon anyways.
It was very painful to watch my Mother day by day Month by Month year by year wither away and become someone who couldn't do anything but exist... However I don't think I could be the one to give the OK or to help in any way.
Back in the 80's here in Mountain Home a little 2 yr old girl was killed by her Mother's hands. Starvation, beatings, cigarette burns, she was put on life support. The parents wouldn't let them pull the plug on her because they knew there would be charges against them. Well finally the plug was pulled and the parents disappeared. Ten years later they found the Mom living in Wisconsin and brought her back here for trail. She pleaded guilty so they didn't try her....
Nice picture of Jack the dripper. I've had this talk with relatives and we decided to not decide each other's fate. We lost a grandson last year and I can't imagine being put in the position of deciding anyone's death. I can't even do it for the dog,someone else has to take him to the vet and I leave.
I work with the terminally ill and I took care of my grandma and grandfather who were both terminally ill. It is a shame that we treat our animals in a more humane way/manner than the people we love. If a person has no quality of life and are terminally ill, the choice should be theirs and only theirs.
I am pro assisted death. If you are going to die anyway and live out your last days or months hooked to machines...what is the point? I am sorry but having to have my husband change my diaper is not how I want him to remember me. Further, going into tons of debt for the same outcome does not thrill me either.
I just heard on the news today that seniors are 5% more likely to commit suicide with their mate.
Death when you are terminal is a personal choice and should not be made by our Government. The other side of the coin is think of how much money is spent on keeping those who are terminal alive because it is the law or what people find acceptable/humane. The end result is still the same. The person dies, which is why they are called terminal.
Bazooka. So sorry about your son. You made a good choice (IMHO). Nobody wants to remember their loved ones hooked to machines for years. Again, I am sorry about your son my dear friend.
At nearly 63, I have lost grandparents, parents, good friends, most of whom were "EXPECTED" to go.
You never expect any your own kids to go first. Yeah, that one was especially tough.
MsMarylin has really opened up an intersting topic, and I'm sure there will be others chiming in on this one.
Zook I don't think I could of gotten through what you did at the time of your Son's death. You are a very strong person! That had to have been a very big hurt for you Zook, loosing your oldest Son at such a young age.
OM It takes a very special person to work with Terminally ill people.
When my Mom was alive I spend 6 yrs of being with her at Ashley Manor and at the Nursing Home on a regular basis. At least 3 times if not more a week. If she was sleeping, I didn't leave I stayed and visited with the other residents.
I made friends with Sams Mom (Mikes friend) I enjoyed sitting and talking to her. Some of those people had lived amazing lifes.
I know I don't want to keep living the way my Mom did in her final years..... I think we should have a right to choose how we want our life to end....
Mike, I too have lost a child way before her time. It's something that is with you every second of every day. I also feel you made the right choice. Marilyn, You too could have "made it" thru that. There is NO choice. One step at a time. Sometimes just a little forced breath at a time. The dang sun just keeps coming up in the morning, no matter how you may curse it. I remember sometimes seeing people smile and laugh, and thinking "Don't they know how bad things are?.........."
Anyway. Choices....hmmmmmmmmmmmm.... I am kind of on the fence about this, only because there are people that you mention that could take advantage of someone.
I would never want to be "kept existing" either. And yes, it needs to be a personal choice. I wouldn't want years of existing and bills being added to bills. You would have to have the "ultimate loved one" to discuss all options with. (I wouldn't want my kids to have to be part of it, they'd suffer endlessly.)
But just some random family member, to help with the "assistance" AND have it in your own writing previously. There are so many twists and turns.
I believe in God, or I may not have "Made it thru" losing a child. And I"m with Mike: If the plug is pulled, God will see to the Fate of that person and it will be right.
A very controversial subject for sure.
Mike, I too am sorry for your loss.
Jessie
Jessie
You brought tears to my eyes reading about loosing your little girl..... I get very emotional when I learn of someones death.
I can watch the news and hear something about someone that I don't even know and I the tears will come.
When I was 12 yrs old my sister who was 3 yrs died unexpectedly. It was a week before Christmas and she caught the flu that was going around. Back then people didn't go to Doctors as they do now days and by the time they took her to a Doctor it was to late. Her death had a profound impact on me for the rest of my life...
I lived in fear that when my Children reached the age of 3 years that something would happen to them.
I know Doctors take an oath so they can't assist in a suicide, I wonder if Nurses can? I'm with you Jessie on it not being a family member to help me to the other side...
Yes, a loss like that changes how you react to so many things. I'm sure it's why I was the Mom I was. I wanted my kids to have lots of experiences...so we did as much as we could. It was why I was/am so involved in their lives...and now the lives of my GrandChildren. I watch like a hawk, without (hopefully) being too much. I'm sure it's why I work so much with children, and always plan to. I can't say how many kids I've "adopted" over the year.
When babies are born, I want soooo much to be there, and both my daughter, and my daughter in law, Jessie, have honored me with being in the delivery room to watch the new lives appear. I can NOT explain how that feels. It's so beyond words wonderful, awesome..... a true Gift from God. I take a week off work when a child is born. It's that momumental to me. When my friend Julie had hers, I was right outside the door. Holding my breath.
When young babies are ill, or in danger, I am scared to death inside.... I'll never get over that, I'm sure, and I don't really care to.
I think it could be a family member to help along the way..... but not a child of your own. Though I'm sure there are the exceptions. I think a spouse could love you enough to be that strong, ... it would of course have to be a one by one decision. Everyone is different.
My sisters death haunted me for the rest of my life and still to this day. The what if's !! She was so sick, she laid in bed crying day after day after day......
I have raised lots of kids, some weren't even mine. My husband and I were Foster Parents here in Mountain Home some through Welfare and some because they had been kicked out of their homes.... I couldn't stand to see a child kicked out living on the streets. It wasn't easy taking in these kids as they came with a lot of baggage....
I recently witness a young couple fighting. She was driving the car and a pre school child was in the back seat. The Daddy was standing outside the car and they were exchanging heated words. He went on to kick the car. All I could do was think about the poor little child in the back seat. Mom Sped off ! The next time I seen Daddy he got a good talking to from me and I don't even know him that well..... He admitted he was wrong and said he would never do that again. I hope not !
Children are a gift from God !
I was thinking about Doctors taking an oath "Do No Harm" and then I thought of Michael Jackson's Doctor. Did he get convicted?
I believe that it should be up to the individual to decide when it is time to stop living(If there is a choice to be made). The government has no business legislating the most personal and private decsion one can make.
That's one of the things that concern me about these "Death panels."
The 3rd Reich ran the German hospitals in World War II, and ultimately, THEY decided who lived or died. I'm not directly comparing the two, but the ancient hinese believed that a "journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
The LESS government is involved in ANYTHING, jtrotter..........the BETTER OFF we are!
typo........I meant to say "Chinese"