Israelis to be allowed euthanasia by machine

Telegraph ^ | 12/7/5 | Tim Butcher

[Crackingham]

Machines will perform euthanasia on terminally ill patients in Israel under legislation devised not to offend Jewish law, which forbids people taking human life. A special timer will be fitted to a patient's respirator which will sound an alarm 12 hours before turning it off.

Normally, carers would override the alarm and keep the respirator turned on but, if various stringent conditions are met, including the giving of consent by the patient or legal guardian, the alarm would not be overridden. Similar timing devices, known as Sabbath clocks, are used in the homes of orthodox Jews so that light switches and electrical devices can be turned on during the Sabbath without offending religious strictures.

Parliamentarians reached a solution after discussions with a 58-member panel of medical, religious and philosophical experts.

"The point was that it is wrong, under Jewish law, for a person's life to be taken by a person but, for a machine, it is acceptable," a parliamentary spokesman said. "A man would not be able to shorten human life but a machine can."

[A CA Guy]

Who ever sells, sets up or makes these machines will have to stand before God on judgment day IMO.

[fat city]

"A man would not be able to shorten human life but a machine can."

Yeah, this will fool God. Like Amish with phones in their barns.

[coconutt2000]

The machine is not even the problem. The same machine saves lives as takes them.

The difference is whether or not care givers stop giving care.

Now, if someone was making and selling home guillotines for the suicide inclined, I'd be right there with you condemning the manufacturer.

[Right Wing Assault]

I imagine the Amish would have to use a battery-powered suicide machine.

[Right Wing Assault]

The same machine saves lives as takes them.

They could just make it a Russian roulette machine. A random number generator figures out whether you are going to live another day or meet your maker.

[atomicpossum]

Sounds like slitting a throat and blaming the knife.

[Right Wing Assault]

"The point was that it is wrong, under Jewish law, for a person's life to be taken by a person but, for a machine, it is acceptable,"

Does this mean I could set a time-bomb in someone's house and I wouldn't be responsible for taking their life? Cool! But wouldn't that make an Islamic suicide bomber innocent if they used a timer to set off the bomb? Or does this not apply to non-Jews?

[Cicero]

There is a complete difference between using a machine to switch lights on and off on the Sabbath and using a machine to kill someone.

In the case of the Sabbath, it's purely a matter of time. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with turning a light on or off; it's only wrong for some people on the Sabbath. So, the program the machine on some other day, and it takes over.

But it is intrinsically wrong to kill someone, on the Sabbath or on any other day. Displacing the time does nothing to fix that. And sins of omission (i.e., not turning the machine off when it gives the alarm) are essentially the same as sins of commission.

This is nothing but hypocrisy. A whited sepulcher, to use the biblical phrase.

[Jigsaw John]

Machines will perform euthanasia on terminally ill patients in Israel

Machines? How humane.

[LK44-40]

Yeah, this will fool God.

LOL !

[Right Wing Assault]

Sounds like slitting a throat and blaming the knife.

New bumper sticker: "People don't kill people. Knives kill people."

[kdot]

Agreed. I doubt God can be tricked by loopholes or technological overrides.

[Right Wing Assault]

I doubt God can be tricked by loopholes or technological overrides.

Does that mean crossing my fingers when I lie won't work? Dang!

[Ohioan from Florida]

This reminds me of when Jesus tried to tell the Jewish leaders that they were trying too hard to follow the letter of the Law without following the spirit of the Law.

The people (of the U.S) fell for the same kind of thing when it allowed Terri Schiavo to be starved and dehydehydrated to death last spring.

[Ohioan from Florida]

dehydehydrated=dehydrated

Sorry, my fingers ran away from my brain.

[Ohioan from Florida]

Euthanasia ping!

[Right Wing Assault]

dehydehydrated

That's doubdouble dry :-)

[Ohioan from Florida]

I think my fingers are just feeling the chill that's bearing down on the Midwest right now!

[khnyny]

"Parliamentarians reached a solution after discussions with a 58-member panel of medical, religious and philosophical experts."

A 58 member panel of "experts" and this is the horse sh**t they come up with?

Sounds like the same kind of "experts" who run the ACLU, the UN, and develop "policy" for the DNC. The patients appear to be running the asylum.