Euthanasie, dont legalise in UK.

[MrsMarkieParkie]

I just read that 8% of deaths in Canada last year happened via euthanasia. This doesnt sit right with me. Also, as described in the article, the protocol seems mostly the same as the US death by lethal injection.
Do we want this in the UK?

To people interested in this, I’d recommend a book called The Book about Getting Older by Dr Lucy Pollock. There’s a really good discussion of exactly how the current system works and what the options are for refusing treatment. Also a good discussion of euthanasia which she is very anti- I am pro but found it interesting to see the arguments against so well set out by an expert.

Ultimately I agree with PP that euthanasia will be normalised and legalised in response to the economic pressure of an ageing population. It’s coming, so we need to be thinking about how to make it work.

write VERY clearly that you do not want antibiotics after a certain deterioration in your situation otherwise each time your condition deteriorates they (the docs/nurses) will pump you full so you lurch on in a deteriorated state until you eventually die of starvation and lack of fluids.
Hopefully the morphine syringe driver means You are oblivious of the hunger/ thirst pangs, the aching body and parched and shrivelled mouth but who knows.

Not just a grotesque idea, but a dystopian movie ('In Time') has actually been made on this premise. Well done you!

. Also a maximum age by which you have to check out by somwhere between 75 and 95.

I imagine this poster is 74 and struggling with her decision - not!

Thing is - you might be aged and decrepit but you family around you aren’t, your nieces and nephews, cute grandchildren - who wants to leave DCs for a last time.

There are so many people in my family who would have taken advantage of VAD if given the opportunity. And it would have saved us a lot of heartache.

I saw an ad where a woman in Canada was too much in debt or bankrupt and she chose to die rather than get help for her problems. I think that's unethical. Canada's VAD laws are too lax.

But if a person is expected to have a protracted death from terminal illness then I'm in favour. I agree 2 doctors should agree before going ahead. I would want this if this was the case for me. I don't want my family to have memories of my decline, or be a burden on them.

Sadly yes this happens also looking like you have been in a concentration camp with the wasting. Dying unfortunately takes a long time for a lot of people. I'm thankful the Queen had a quick death I think she may had an advanced decision, she was up and about smiling a few days before. I hope mine is the same. Unfortunately yes the only choice we have is to refuse antibiotics and starve plus hope we get adequate pain relief in our overstretched health system. 😩

Well, it's a tricksy one, isn't it.

When the state becomes involved in the business of death I'd say that opens the door to state-legislated death. I'm more in favour of a legal fudge whereby it's accepted that certain drugs can be applied at the behest of the individual but it's not really the business of the state.

So it's accepted as a request in extremis and will not be prosecuted, but it's not on the statute books.

I don't think euthanasia should be legalized in the way it has been in Canada and certainly shouldn't be an option just because someone's old but otherwise relatively healthy. But I do think there should be options opened up for more focus on pain relief and the option to prioritise pain relief over extending life (with solid safeguards and at the patient's request, not decided for the patient), so someone can decide they want DNR and maximum pain relief and if that ends their life then so be it. The idea should be that end of life/very ill patients should have control (with 2 doctors approving) over prioritising pain relief even if that threatens their life rather than focusing on euthanasia.

I think the phrase 'I don't want to be a burden' is extremely harmful when applied to state-legislated death.

Who gets to chose?

I speak as one who is radically pro-abortion. I absolutely believe in self-determination. That up to the moment of birth the mother should have absolute control over what happens to her body with regards the foetus.

Once a person is born they become an individual and then, and only then, does their ownership begin.

And once it does, it's not the business of the state.

There's a social contract by which we live politically and which we get to vote on but it doesn't presume that anyone other than the individual has ownership of their life.

It's why I opted out of presumed consent with organ donation. Not because I'm intrinsically against organ donation, but because I am against presumed consent. For any matter.

And death is a big matter.

I think legalising euthanasia will lead to a slippery slope. Very different from stopping life extending treatment in my opinion.

I wouldn’t put an animal through what my dad went through. Watching someone you love suffer is the worst thing. It’s cruel & inhumane. Palliative could make him comfortable & as pain free as possible but it wasn’t really enough. That is not what I want for myself.

This

And it terrifies me

I think people are extremely naive if they believe assisted suicide would be used in rare cases, with patients giving informed consent

We've all seen how this government treats vulnerable and disadvantaged people

I just read that 8% of deaths in Canada last year happened via euthanasia

It was 3.3% in 2021, not 8%

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230213/dq230213c-eng.htm

Yes I do think we should have it. I watched my grandma die in agony. She begged me to help her. I will live with it forever that she was in so so much pain and I could do nothing but sit there.

Or have you had your life savings drained through years of Funding care for a loved one

And this is why we would need to proceed with extreme caution, relatives who would rather hang on to their inheritance than spend it on the care needs of the person they love.

I wonder how many doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers give up their jobs when they'll be asked to assist in someone's dying.

And there's also a trend to slowly widen the legislation to allow more and more groups to be included.

Nobody addressed my point about whether children have capacity in this, especially if they have mental health problems. Very dangerous trend.
I see the same safeguarding issues as I see around the whole 'you can chose to be whatever gender you want to be' trend.

I think that at some point the Tory party in particular will look again at this.

We have a care crisis in this country.

With a VERY cold view on this, there are financial benefits to the country for allowing euthanasia. And that will be what swings it ultimately, not any ethical reason. I think that’s the chilling truth. It will be sold to us as humanitarian progressiveness though.

Who decides on the maximum age?
My 3 remaining grandparents are in their late 70s, still in very good health and after retirement have been volunteering with local organisations. They have children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Would they get a pass because they’re providing some
use to the community or do you think my grandparents shouldn’t have got to meet their 3 youngest great grandchildren?

I support euthanasia. I don't know anything about the Canadian system, but if it is flawed that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it - just that we should use a different blueprint.

https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/

Yes I definitely want this in the UK.

The last few weeks of life of certain family members have been absolute hell and suffering. Not everyone’s pain can be managed as well as you think. For various reasons. Not to mention the double incontinence or worse and other indignities and mental distress that occurs as well as the pain.

We absolutely should allow some people to be euthanised/ put to sleep if that’s what they want and they are going to die shortly anyway. We don’t let animals suffer and you don’t realise how much many people suffer a horrific last few months, weeks or days until you’ve seen it with your own eyes.

Have you had a family member with dementia ?

I absolutely think it should be legalised for this and maybe other illness as well

Of course humans can't be trusted but I don't want to live like my nan , mum and aunt have and are being vile to the family I love ..

I'm a member of Dignity in Dying and fully support my right to die when I feel it is time.

https://www.politico.eu/article/france-doctors-europe-too-far-too-old-too-few/

There is a shortage of doctors too, which might only get worse. It isn’t just an ageing population that is the issue.

Let’s say someone in terminal stage cancer. If they don’t want to live through the agony of the last 4-6 weeks (which can also be a big cost) then why should they not be able to die with dignity to avoid that huge pain and suffering?

The issue is if poor people were refused treatment for Stage 4 cancer due to cost… but we are very far away from that.

Properly legalised with adequate checks I think we do need euthanasia. However, again, not every doctor will want to do the lethal injection.

Obviously I am against it for people with depression who think they want to die. That is a very tricky area. Perhaps it needs to be limited to deteriorating physical health only?

I do want it here. There is a heavy prevalence of Parkinson’s and dementia in my family on both maternal and paternal side. I’d rather choose how and when I was to die than put my family through watching and caring for me in my slow decent to death.