The right to die?

I recently saw last years blockbuster "Million Dollar Baby." Wow! What a ride! I surely never expected "the right to die" to be it's objective.

This movie was the most persuasive proponent I've yet to encounter for euthanasia. Now I question why any one should be forced to be kept alive by machines? And if they would die without them, how can turning them off ever be considered murder or even suicide?

Furthermore, I believe the right to die should be extended to the terminally ill suffering acute pain or severe physical or mental impairment. I don't consider this suicide.

So give me one good reason why you believe suffering should be prolonged? I'd like to hear your arguments.

Originally posted by dollmonster

Furthermore, I believe the right to die should be extended to the terminally ill suffering acute pain or severe physical or mental impairment. I don't consider this suicide.

So give me one good reason why you believe suffering should be prolonged? I'd like to hear your arguments.

I haven't heard any proponent of the right to die issue argue that suffering should be prolonged. Why would anyone argueing the right to die, express the need to prolong suffering?

Am I missing something?

This issue it seems one of for, or against.
Even then being against the right to die does not mean one chooses to prolong suffering.





[edit on 10-9-2005 by garyo1954]

Does it not prolong suffering when you're forced to be kept alive by machines when you'd rather die? I think so.

I think there are two main reasons for people who are against the right to die issue.

1. Many see the right to die as suicide or ending your life before god takes it. therefore it is wrong.

2. Many people are unable to let go of a friend or loved one, no matter how bad their condition may be and hope upon hope that there will be some miraculous cure developed just in time.

Personaly I dont have a problem with a cancer suffer ending there life. The moral lines seem to blur when it comes to the intellectually handicapped.
Should parents have the right to euthanasia intellectually handicapped babys or babys with other disablitys?

I believe if an Individiual wishes to die, then it is their choice and nobody should be able to stop them.

Though the idea isn't something I'm fond of myself, to me this falls under a personal decision that shouldn't be prohibited by the government.

That's why living wills are so important.

The argument of prolonging suffering is subjective; because we're not the patient, it might not be prudent to assume we know their level of suffering (or indeed, what constitutes suffering) - but more importantly, we might not know what they would want us to do.

Xpert asked about mentally and physically disabled patients. That's a different question, really - you're talking about ending the life of someone who would otherwise live for an extended, or even normal period...that's different from ending the life of a terminally ill patient.

As Brian said, it often falls down to two reasons - either a religious belief, or a familial "need" to keep the patient around. In the case of the former, the only religious belief that should matter is that of the patient - if my family decides that because they're devout, I shouldn't be allowed to end my own suffering, that'd be a far more heinous moral crime than the actual administration of "more morphine than is necessary" to hasten my death.

Sadly many family members do wish to prolong the lives of their terminally ill relative because they themselves cannot (or do not wish to) deal with the patient actually dying. Nobody wants to go through the loss of a loved one, and that's understandable.

Because I've rambled a lot (there's a surprise, huh?), I'm going to summarise my own stance:

Euthanasia should be an option if certain criteria are satisfied (the patient is able to make the decision, ie is of sound mind). You can't force a patient to accept medical treatment - why should it be ok to force them to live in pain?

I have a couple of weblinks for those interested - I'm trying to update the list to include more nations:

US - living will information

Australia - living will information

Canada - living will information

UK - living will information

I think you should be able to choose when you want to die.

When reffering to menally ill and handicapped patients im sure he means that are also in a bad position, with illness and such
not just your run of the mill retard

Well there is hope, thats why, people love their family and friends so when they are going to die they want to do everything they can to change it. I mean if there was a chance one of your loved ones might recover, are you going to pull the plug? Or are you going to give it some time?



Or you just going to say oh well, this is the way nature intended?

Originally posted by Lysergic
Well there is hope, thats why, people love their family and friends so when they are going to die they want to do everything they can to change it. I mean if there was a chance one of your loved ones might recover, are you going to pull the plug? Or are you going to give it some time?

Or you just going to say oh well, this is the way nature intended?

Isn't that a different matter? Euthanasia doesn't really address terminating life support without the patient's consent, generally speaking. It speaks more to the patient deciding to directly end their own life.

But to answer your question, it's usually fairly certain what does or doesn't qualify as a "terminal" condition; again though, this is why it's imperative to let your loved ones know your wishes. Some cases are more ambiguous than others; and this is yet more reason to get those advance directives sorted out. Don't make your family suffer through having to decide for you, if you already know your preferences.

Sure, there's hope...but hope alone shouldn't be the reason we prolong the suffering of a loved one.

Hot topic and a great movie. Not many people can say this but I had to help in a decision like this. My step-father who had just battled cancer and won; took a massive heart attack 3 months later. Laid in a coma for a week completely brain dead; we had the option of prolonging this and leave him in this state for an unknown amount of time; or let him go.

It really wasnt much of a decision, we turned off the machines and within a few minutes he passed on. Nobody should suffer like that, spirit in pain like that from the bed soars and unable to move. I couldnt stand to see a loved one like that.

Everyone has the right to life and with the right of life comes the right of death. Sometimes death is not the worst case scenario.