'Assisted Dying'? Yes or No?

[WifeOfMacbeth]

Am thinking about this one at the moment.
Are you in favour? Against? Not sure?
I'm also wondering whether views change as we get older....

Having cared for two parents, I am in favour.
I am classed as disabled and vulnerable and I am still in favour.
I was brought up Catholic and I am still in favour.
In 2025, making people who are soon to die suffer in the most agonising circumstances, I don’t see what anyone would choose that, or why their loved ones would choose watching them suffer in that way.
Unless you have seen it up close, it’s hard to describe and I don’t want to upset anyone by doing into details.

And how many people are currently being treated in corridors in your country right now?

I want that option for myself, yes.

I would like to be able to apply legally for a tablet that I could take if I ever felt the time had come. I would keep it in a little pill box in my bedside table, hidden away in a corner. I watched my father die a horrible death at home in the 60's and, as a child, I've never forgotten the fear and terror on his face. I may never use it but, knowing it was there, would give me great comfort. It's my body and my soul (whatever that is) and I should have options.

Absolutely yes. MIL had a marvellous hospice place and fantastic palliative care. She still suffered horribly in the last 6 weeks of her life. She knew she was dying, she knew it was inevitable. If she had been offered the option of assisted dying she absolutely would have taken it (she was still mentally competent and she said so, often)
I would not put a dog through what she suffered, it’s inhumane.

We are not going to get good palliative care. It’s an impossible dream. There is not the staff nor the money. Or even the will to do it . Other louder illnesses take centre stage. Cancer for example. No one cares about the pain and lack of dignity the elderly suffer. No one says well done “you beat the pain of old age” or ask you to “fight old age”. Old age happens and death can be slow and painful!

Absolutely not.

It's up to the individual though. Not anyone else.

This.

Yes.

Because I've seen too many family members suffer. Even with excellent palliative care, they have died horrible deaths.

Because it's an option. Before we didn't have the option, now we do. And we don't have to take that option if we don't want to.

Some people are good at accepting life is slipping away and they cannot enjoy much any more. Others really hate that notion and live for quite a long time with a very sub standard life in comparison to what they want. life to be . I believe I know what I want. Just for me after discussion with family. I object to the state saying what I should be able to do and I object even more that others ensure their beliefs are foisted on me.

Solidarity xx

I agree, until you've been there you can't know what it's like.

Of course we can disagree, and sympathies likewise.

My point was that until someone is in that position of watching their loved one suffering their last days, they can't really know which way they would vote, as it were.

You don't decide then and there. You have to have 2 doctors sign it off and a 2 week cooling off period. Also, it's for terminally ill people with no chance of getting better.

Dr. If that's literally what you've written it won't be remotely enforceable/have any legal standing as people have such widely differing views of what poor quality of life is like. You'll need to be far more specific than that x

You die via anaesthetic not poison (and I'd like to think as an anaesthetist neither of those 2 descriptions apply

Yes, DF shot himself, terminally ill, I would have got to say goodbye.

@SugarandSpiceandAllThingsNaice I decide! Not society. I’m not being pushed into a horrible death either. By you.

I'm very torn. I've worked in a hospice and seen a lot of deaths. I agree that people should not have to suffer but I'm really worried about what's happened in Canada.

I understand the complexities around ensuring that the option for assisted dying is not used as an excuse to not offer proper palliative care etc, or for people to be coerced in to ending their lives. However, I believe that it must be possible to design a system to safeguard against this and I would definitely want that to be very carefully thought out. I have seen a close relative with a degenerative disease have to live for years with dementia and no physical ability to do anything for himself. He knew that this was likely, having seen other people go through the same thing, and desperately wished that he had the option to decide in advance at what stage he should be helped to end things. Obviously that was not possible so he spent a lot of time in pain, confused and scared. I know another person who chose to take his own life alone and in a painful manner so that he could avoid a long terminal illness without fear that his loved ones would be implicated in his death. It may take a lot of time and effort to find a way to do it without putting other people at risk but I really feel that there must be a way to allow people like this to choose when they want to end their lives with dignity and with their families by their sides.

People talk about dying very casually as if it's simple. Noone can tell whether the act of dying is painless.

You might argue that it's better than chronic pain but it needs to be considered along with all the ethical arguments.

Sixpence39

he was dying at the time- stage 4 lung cancer

NoCarbsForMe

as an individual the day after saying ‘lord please just take me, please’, he was saying’arent the flowers on the windowsill lovely? It’s the tiny things that make you appreciate life! You know, just because I am where I am and this is happening doesn’t mean I want to die. People think you get old and you’re suddenly going to be ready, but you’re not!’ (He went into a coma a few days after that and died a day and a bit after. Sighs)

I have deep concerns about assisted dying. I understand the arguments made in favour of autonomy and relief from suffering. However, I worry that normalising assisted dying could lead us down a very troubling path.

One thing I’m certain of is that it should never be offered to anyone on mental health grounds. Mental illness, by nature, can distort a person’s sense of hope and reality. Things can change and people can recover even after suffering for years and years. Allowing assisted death in these kind of cases risks presenting hopelessness as a medical solution, rather than striving for recovery and support. There are already disturbing examples of this in countries such as the Netherlands. Suicide is a permanent solution to what is often a temporary and treatable problem.

Yes, in favour. Personally, don’t think I’ll take the option but it’s good to know it will be there.

The older I get, the more sense it makes.