However, we do not afford the same to people still able to communicate.
This should be a decision between the individual and their medical practitioner(s). It’s not a government issue.
Ding, Ding, Ding!!! We Have Winner!!!!
Posted on 02/06/2008 4:27:00 PM PST by SubGeniusX
After reading the Personal Health column on Nov. 27 on preventing geriatric suicide, Gloria C. Phares, a 93-year-old retired teacher in Missouri, wrote:
“I was healthy until 90, and then Boom! Atrial fibrillation; deaf, can’t enjoy music or hear a voice unless 10 inches from my ear; fell, fractured my thigh and am now a cripple; had a slight stroke the day after my beloved husband died after 61 years of marriage.
“I’ve lived a happy life, but from here on out it’s all downhill. Is there any point in my living any longer? I’m not living — just existing. I very much want to die, but our society doesn’t let me. Oh for a pill to ease myself out and end my pain, pain, pain.”
As this column said in November, untreated depression is a common cause of suicide in older people, though by no means the only one. But when I spoke to Mrs. Phares’s son Michael, with her permission, he assured me that she was not depressed, just tired of living what she views as a pointless and painful existence. He suggested to her, not entirely in jest, that she move to Oregon or the Netherlands, where physician-assisted suicide is legal.
Modern medicine can keep people alive into their 9th and 10th decades, when in years past they would have succumbed to any number of conditions. Now a small but growing number of these people are asking why. What is the point of living so long if you can no longer enjoy living? What is the point of living until your mind turns to marshmallow and you are reduced to an existence that is less than human?
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ding, Ding, Ding!!! We Have Winner!!!!
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Painless suicide is the easiest thing in the world to do.
Charcoal grill, small bathroom.
The “right to die” will, instantaneously, morph into the “duty to die.”
Statists would love for the state to control who lives or dies. The “right to die” will allow them that control. It will be a grotesque nightmare.
an hero?
I agree, further more a compassionate end of life decision, is not a culture of death as some would call it.
Nice attempt at Reductio ad absurdum.
Statists would love for the state to control who lives or dies...
The Statists already have this control... by NOT allowing Physician Assisted Suicide.
As I stated before there is a HUGE difference between PAS and State sponsored euthanasia.
NOW we have a winner....so many never see the bigger picture...
Look up the fabian movement...
Reductio ad absurdum?
Not a chance. Nice try.
The difference between “difference between PAS and State sponsored euthanasia” exists only in your delusions.
There is a reason the elderly are petrified of going to the hospital in the Netherlands. It’s because they have the “right to die.” No one knows how many have exercised their “right to die” against their wishes. But, I have seen estimates in the tens of thousands. No thanks.
Do you have a verse from the Bible to back that up?
How I live or die is none of your concern. Butt out. My life and death belong to me and my personal walk with God. You are not my Holy Spirit. It's of no concern to you, the state, the church, the courts or anyone else.
Bump.
What does she mean “society won’t let me die”? There is a big difference between refusing extraordinary treatment, which is every individual’s right, and actively killing yourself, which is suicide and should never be facilitated by a doctor or the state. At her age and in her condition, sounds like all she needs to do is stop whatever medicines she’s on and she would die naturally.
I meant the living will part, not the life beginning at conception part. I want a Biblical reference indicating that it is a sin to die on your own terms. Killing an unborn child is most certainly a sin, and one has only to read the book of Exodus to know that.
the word suicide is not in the Bible...
The best way in the world to die still sucks. You may quote me.
This woman is going through a hard time of life. She's lost her life partner and doesn't want to be here anymore. When we give in to assisted suicide, we also open the door to state mandated suicide, and also to approval of suicide by people who are simply going through temporary depression. I wish I was smart enough to know the answer, but it's for better minds than mine.
Suicide by Cop!!
I agree with you totally. No form of death is an attractive option.
My point was....Why do you require that another person participate in your suicide?
And why run to the press about it?
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