Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: The right to die? Who chooses?

  1. #1
    Registered User stewart38's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Ambrosden it gets
    Posts
    7,480
    Rep Power
    13

    The right to die? Who chooses?

    I was moved by the recent death of a 23 year old rugby player who was paralyzed from the neck down , following a rugby accident just 18 months ago . He chose assisted suicide via Dignitas clinic


    Why Daniel James chose to die - Times Online

    I think on this one I go with this,

    -----------------------------
    “This young man, Daniel James, did not need help to kill himself: he needed help to live with severe disability,” said Dr Peter Saunders of the Care Not Killing Alliance, which campaigns against assisted suicide. “It is most unfortunate that he fell into the hands of Dignitas when he did. He was still very much in the acute stage of loss and he was also almost certainly profoundly depressed. It is a terrible tragedy.”
    ------------------------------


    Although for others its got to be difficult , should we judge ??


    --------------------------------
    I hope that one day I will get the chance to speak to this lady and ask if she had a son, daughter, father, mother, who could not walk, had no hand function, was incontinent, and relied upon 24-hour care for every basic need and they had asked her for support, what would she have done?”

    -------------------------------


    but............


    -----------------------------------
    Saunders, however, believes “we are on a slippery slope” towards too easily condoning assisted suicide. “At Dignitas we started with people with cancer and motor neurone disease, then we went to chronically ill people and those with conditions such as diabetes or multiple sclerosis where their life expectancy isn’t necessarily shortened.

    “Now we are moving on to people with severe disabilities. It is turning into a copycat scenario and it disturbs me. It is right for the police to investigate these cases.”
    --------------------------------

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Bristol
    Posts
    3,166
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: The right to die? Who chooses?

    Not an easy subject and certainly not one can judge from the facts we have

    A severely disabled friend tried to commit suicide but was rescued, during his subsequent time in intensive care, he made very clear signals to me, he wanted me to switch his life support system off


    Well that was over 10 years ago. I have just had a coffee with him and he is very well and has come to terms with his situation

    BUT while his body is paralyzed, he can eat, drink, talk and get about in an electric chair

    He does not need 24 hour care, nor is he in constant pain

    I think, if I was in constant pain, could nothing for myself, with out help and knew thing were very unlikely to get better. I might want to visit Switzerland

  3. #3
    Registered User stewart38's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Ambrosden it gets
    Posts
    7,480
    Rep Power
    13

    Re: The right to die? Who chooses?

    Quote Originally Posted by philsmove View Post
    Not an easy subject and certainly not one can judge from the facts we have



    Where does it end ?

    Should we allow anyone the right to die who is of a sound mind in this country ?

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    2,795
    Rep Power
    10

    Re: The right to die? Who chooses?

    I am a great believer in the right of self termination.

    If of sound mind then the right to live or die is an individual's choice.

    CHOICE is the key word here.

  5. #5
    Registered User Magic Hans's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    Nottingham - for n
    Posts
    825
    Rep Power
    10

    Re: The right to die? Who chooses?

    Quote Originally Posted by dave the scaffolder View Post
    I am a great believer in the right of self termination.

    If of sound mind then the right to live or die is an individual's choice.

    CHOICE is the key word here.
    Although I do agree with you Dave, IMO self termination needs to be made difficult to do, in some way.

    We all go through life's ups and downs. A very few of us go through very deep depression, or trauma, especially following some major life altering event [losing sight, arm, leg, feeling].

    And yes, suicide is a choice. There will always be other choices. Sometimes it may take someone 6, 12, 18 or maybe more months to recover from the mental/emotional trauma of such an event.

    I would argue that choosing to die before coming to some level of acceptance of what has happened is a poor and biased choice, that may rob the chooser of some wonderful life experiences.

    Also, it may be difficult (but not impossible) to discriminate between someone's genuine choice to end their own life, and their cry for help.

    Not a particularly happy situation.

  6. #6
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Bristol
    Posts
    3,166
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: The right to die? Who chooses?

    Quote Originally Posted by Magic Hans View Post
    Although I do agree with you Dave, IMO self termination needs to be made difficult to do, in some way.
    .........

    Not a particularly happy situation.

    Indeed, which means you should not help someone end their life

  7. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Waltham abbey
    Posts
    4,610
    Blog Entries
    4
    Rep Power
    12

    Re: The right to die? Who chooses?

    I read a story this morning in the paper. A mother aided her son in terminating his life who was a tpripaplegic (think thats how you spell it) - had tried himself to end his life three times but was unable to complete it.

    He could not walk, needed 24 hour care, was incontinent and had regular spasm fits. He as 23 years old and a semi professional rugy player who was injured in this catastrophic way when the scrum collapsed on him.

    He did not want to live. He wanted to die. After a year of suffering he didn't want to do it anymore and could not live his life this way.

    If god forbid, either of my children ended up this way and begged me to help them end it.. regardless of the consequence... i cant say i would be brave enough to do it.

    Its something i pray i will never have to face but my heart goes out to those who do and I think the people that do make this decision are a lot braver than i could ever be.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Lyrical Moments...
    By ducasi in forum Fun and Games
    Replies: 906
    Last Post: 17th-February-2010, 06:42 PM
  2. Sleeveless Tshirts Must Die and other sartorial disasters
    By David Bailey in forum Let's talk about dance
    Replies: 74
    Last Post: 16th-October-2008, 01:04 PM
  3. Finally, an Accurate Definition of Blues !!
    By StokeBloke in forum Let's talk about dance
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 8th-June-2008, 05:41 PM
  4. Films to See Before You Die
    By geoff332 in forum Chit Chat
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 19th-May-2008, 11:52 AM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •