Tribunals needed for assisted suicide in the UK..

The ethical and legal debates around assisted dying or assisted suicide, where an individual helps another person with the means to end his or her own life, remain in the media's spotlight. However, the introduction of a new tribunal style system will provide the opportunity for each case to be assessed on its merits, and giving each patient the dignity to die when they choose.

medicalxpress.com...
The article says the first global conference will be held in Athens (!! hemlock anyone!!) where the tribunals on assisted suicide will be discussed. If this goes forward it will be another government ran bureaucracy which I honestly have little faith in especially their ability to make a timely decision.

Personal opinion: A living Will stating when you want a doctor to pull the plug (assist) or do not resurrect would suffice and put the whole situation between the Doctor, family and the individual's prior written wishes.

I have always figured when my time was up, or life was not worth living, I would do whatever I needed to do; not an answer some might want to hear (?) but I am not afraid of death... just some of the pain and suffering on the road to get there..

reply to post by 727Sky


I don't quite know what to say.... So even death will become a committee decision? When has this nonsense gone too far??

I'm with you. A living will properly formatted and filled out to insure it's done without coercion or any other form of funny business to a mentally capable person making the decision in advance, should be legally binding and quite enough. No one should have to seek permission from a tribunal. It's the ultimate form of 'Cradle to Grave' Government control in every individual life. Wow..... Each day I think I've seen how far it can go. Each day, I'm shocked that it's gone just a bit further.

reply to post by 727Sky

Here in Belgium, I work close to a team of medical professionals where you can go for euthanasia (which has been legal here since 2002) if you are having problems getting it elsewhere. This mostly involves people with "incurable" psychiatric conditions. This team was basically able to set up shop without any problems. Many doctors, legal professionals, ethical experts, etc have huge problems with this. The general population seems pretty happy with it, overal.

The main questions they have to deal with are:
- Is the condition incurable? (This does not take into account what might be down the road..)
- Is the person suffering intolerably? (Who on earth can judge that, especially in psychiatric cases??)
- Is the person able to make a sound decision? (Again, who on earth can judge that??)

What it comes down to is that the people who decide your fate in these cases are all medical professionals. No one else can decide. It is extremely dangerous to give one single group of professionals this power.

soulwaxer

It must come in...when I worked in an old folks home one old dear (97) was in so much pain everyday, she was on morphine patches (max allowed) and she still had pain 24/7, she was mostly ok mentally and asked me everyday to help her die .
I was a coward in not helping her, her family also said they would help her die If they could after seeing her suffering but all of us too scared of the law.
A living will is the way forward but I think it is such a big business (old folk care) and they pump them full of drugs to keep them living even though they have no real quality of life.
In the future it will come in anyhow because of the amount of old folk (and no one to look after them) the baby boomers are getting older and there are many of them.
I will do myself in before I become a burden on my country/family where the money spent on me should be spent on the young people.

reply to post by boymonkey74


Yep, side stepping any religious view, I have always thought it was more about money than caring. The whole government board thing though is not the way to go IMO... Next thing you know there will be government insurance boards who will be deciding on who gets a knee or hip replacement... Ooops seems there have been a few threads already about that, No?

reply to post by 727Sky


No way do I want any committee deciding whether or not my life is worth living. Same goes for deciding the worth of my childrens', grandchildrens' and unborn childrens' lives.

Gahhh.

At the moment, there is a parliamentary debate going on in Belgium in order to try and include children in the euthanasia law. These children will be judged by medical professionals on whether or not they are mature enough for their decision. One of the things being recommended is that the parents will have no legal say in the decision of the child...

Some things should be left to nature.

soulwaxer

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

It should be pointed out that this is just somebody in a School of Law presenting a paper, about what she thinks ought to happen.
No government initiatives involved.
The quoted phrase "tribunal system will provide..." is misleadingly definite.
Since this is just a hypothetical proposal, she should have written "would provide...".

When it comes to death, people treat their pets better than human beings. They will put their loved pet down, when it's dying, but humans have to be put through extra pain and indignity just because we can keep humans alive.

We should have an institute for creative dying, where you can choose how you want to see out those few weeks or days. When you know there is no return, you might as well be given some choice on how you go out. Stop making it such a mawkish and scary business.

Wrabbit2000
So even death will become a committee decision? When has this nonsense gone too far??

Seriously! Assisted suicide should be available to ANY ADULT who wants it, for any reason.
The terminally ill. The chronically ill. Whatever.
It's THEIR BUSINESS. It's not the governments business.

FlyersFan

Wrabbit2000
So even death will become a committee decision? When has this nonsense gone too far??

Seriously! Assisted suicide should be available to ANY ADULT who wants it, for any reason.
The terminally ill. The chronically ill. Whatever.
It's THEIR BUSINESS. It's not the governments business.

The important word here is ASSISTED. That means it is NOT ONLY THEIR BUSINESS.

Who decides who will assist?...

soulwaxer