Assisted dying

[LovelyBath77]

Please don't read if this upset you, but I think that it should be up to us when we choose to die, especially with an illness which isn;t going to get better. I don't want to have long term care and give all that money to it which could be left to my children, and definitely don't want to be in a position where you have no choice and considered incapable of making decisions.

I think there needs to be some change on this. AIBU?

I will sign that petition. Already made plans for myself.

It needs to change YES.

Its an appalling and barbaric thing forcing people to die long and painful deaths when they themselves want to go.

Its horrendous and I dont want it - I want to choose, I want ot say when I get to this stage finish me off.

Its a waste of money, time, its painful for the person and its painful for their relatives. The legislation is in place and is being progressed in other countries.

No. I think with the changes to the care charges it could lead to a lot of vulnerable people being pressured to do it. I also foresee an awful lot more older people dying from 'falls'.

Yanbu, if the person passes mental capacity checks... but as long as the people in power are practicing Christians, there isn't a hope in hell of anything changing.

Maybe could have some way of protecting vulnerable people- not sure.

I have horrible long term condition which when it flares up is life threatening and needs hospital treatment, but try and manage it the best I can. How much if it I could take as an older person, I'm not sure though.

Assisted dying Bill was rejected in scottish parliment Margo Mcdonald who was an msp and had MS was trying her best to get it passed it was devestating that it was rejected.

I understand the ethics behind not approving of assisted dying however people should be able to decide for themselves and not have to sort themselves a plane ticket to switzerland when their last days should be where they want to be.

as the people in power are practicing Christians, there isn't a hope in hell of anything changing
Yes that's the truth. Institutional religious oppression, just like mother Theresa practiced. The only solution would be a referendum.

I was in favour of assisted dying, despite being a Christian, until I read the perspectives of vulnerable people. Older people and disabled people are disproportionately at risk of feeling pressured into this option to reduce their perceived burden on others.
If it were an ideal world where pain was well managed, there was no ageism or disablism, mental health provision was sufficient and all relatives were benevolent, then I would support it for those who still chose it.

Having watched my suffering, dying father beg to be put out of his misery, and having seen the doctors who wanted to help stand there helpless as they told him it was illegal, I quite agree. Dogs get better treatment than dying adults in this country and that needs to change.

I totally agree with you but people with MS and other long-term disabling conditions have taken this issue to court more than once and nobody has won. The fact that people may end up taking their own life before they want to because they need to do it while they still can (if they don't want to risk family/friends getting prosecuted) makes it even more appalling. Debbie Purdy who had MS actually had to starve herself in the end as it was the only way she could kill herself without implicating anyone else.

Of course assisted dying should be legal in the UK. People are being treated in ways that would be illegal if they were an animal. People who have degenerative conditions such as Huntingdons deserve better treatment.
It is legal in some places and not illegal in others, including some US States. It can be made to work safely.

For me, this is an absolute no-brainer. In a society where we can find the empathy to euthanise an animal that is suffering, and this is almost universally accepted as the humane thing to do; why is it people still see assisted suicide as something so horrendous?

Ultimately death is not a nice topic to discuss, but when given the choice between a debilitating condition and loss of dignity or a death on my own terms - I know what my choice is. I would also wholeheartedly support someone else's right to make that decision for themselves too.

Thing is there is no nice end for people with debilitating conditions even with the best palative care . There was a man( who's name i have forgotten) who took his case to court and lost he had locked in syndrome at the end due to his condition and died of pneumonia how frightened must that poor man have been it is bloody tragic people are allowed to suffer

I was in favour of assisted dying, despite being a Christian, until I read the perspectives of vulnerable people. Older people and disabled people are disproportionately at risk of feeling pressured into this option to reduce their perceived burden on others.

If you are worried about people being "pressured" to die, perhaps consider the pressure those people with degenerative conditions feel to end their own lives while they are still capable of committing suicide rather than actually when they would like to die.
We need to improve societies attitudes (or at least people's perspective of those attitudes) and have adequate controls to ensure people haven't been pressured, rather than make those with severe degenerative conditions suffer, sometimes for decades.

Gosh this is such a difficult one. I happen to live in a country where it is legal for minors and depressed people to be euthanised so it is a question often debated around our table.

I truly don't know how I think about this. I am really torn. I am a practicing Roman Catholic and so my immediate thoughts and instincts are against it. I truly believe every individual has innate worth in themselves, for just "being"; doesn't matter whether they are ill, incapacitated, profoundly disabled, mentally ill, a so-called "functioning" member of society or not, contributing economically or not. How one person may determine "quality of life" could be very different to another individual's view of it and I don't think anyone else except the person themselves (if capable) should make judgements about that. Nor should money, ideally, come in to the equation.

On the other hand, having lost elderly relatives to cancer and dementia, it is so very hard to see them suffer. And if I were to be diagnosed with a terminal illness, it might be comforting to know that I had a modicum of control over the situation, living where I do.

I know that with resources in the NHS being stretched there is the worry that elderly vulnerable people are being left to die undignified deaths, in pain and alone. And I worry that if euthanasia becomes common place, no efforts or resources will be put towards changing this, for those that wish to die naturally.

I just don't know really. I will be interested to read eveyrone's posts on here.

Yes I completely agree, I hope by the time I'm in old age this will be a reality. I want to have the choice of how and when I end my days not leave it in the hands of medical professionals and the limitations of an outdated law. Personal choice is paramount.

I appreciate safeguards need to be in place to protect the vulnerable but the choice needs to be there.

Totally agree. I have already decided I will opt for assisted suicide in the future, DP has MS and also agrees.

Yes it should be about choice, not pressure.

In places where it is legal, like Oregon, there are safeguards in place to prevent the law being abused. What is being proposed here is also quite limited - the person in question must have capacity to choose it for themselves (it is absolutely NOT about someone choosing it for someone who does not have capacity), and they must have a diagnosis of a terminal illness with less than 6 months to live.

I know of cases where having this law would have allowed people to live longer, as they would not have felt the need to kill themselves before they lose the physical ability to do so. I think it's barbaric that we make people suffer to the bitter end if that is not their wish. We don't treat animals that inhumanely.

Many doctors do not want this to be legal because it puts so much pressure on them.

I think people should be allowed to take their own lives but there shouldn't be an expectation that doctors will bump people off.

I have a chronic painful disability and to know I had some control over my end would make me much more content. I don't want other people to be undertaking intimate care, or deciding how many painkillers I get or leaving me propped up in a nursing home.
And what if I don't have the strength or ability to do it myself properly? My grandmother lived with dementia 10 years after she totally lost her mind. 10 years of hell.

While I sympathize that it's hard for GPs, providing the necessary medication to someone to kill themselves if that is the patient's choice should not be seen as a burden, but a blessing. To give someone who is dying the death they want rather than leaving them to suffer is the kind and humane thing to do.

I mean doctors, not just GPs

While I sympathize that it's hard for GPs, providing the necessary medication to someone to kill themselves if that is the patient's choice should not be seen as a burden, but a blessing.

It's not that simple. What will the family think, will they object? Will the GP end up defending themselves in court? Will they be changed by the fact they've effectively murdered another human being?

It's not a fair burden to put on people who are already in a stressful job.

100% agree we should have assisted dying. My parents are terrified of getting dementia, it ruined my lovely GM's last years and she was an aggressive travesty of herself by the end. We'd all sleep safer knowing we had this option.