32 Answers (1-30 Displayed)

Without going into the whys and wherefores, I believe everybody has the right to determine their own lives......

It is very impotant to have a living will. You can get the form from the internet and have it notarized. be-fore you get ill. Everyone schould have one.  I believe it schould be an indivitual choice. Unfortunately there are many people who are vegetables and are beeing forcefed or fed with a tube.because they did not have a Living will. It benefits the Nursinghome mostly because of the money coming in. I personally would not want to be subjected to this torture if I was ill and there was no quality of live. It schould not be dictated by our government or the lobby of the nusinghomes, what we want to do if  there is no hope of ever getting better. I would never put my family through this. If a person is seriously ill, they schould be able to decide theire own fate.

I believe we should have the choice to die as we please. I would not want to be alive if it meant I was in constant severe pain, was living like a vegetable, being dependant on someone else to do most things for me and especially being a burden on my family they have a life to live I have had mine and am very grateful for what life has given me. If and when the time comes let me die with dignity at my choice.

I think a person should have as much right to die as he has to live.  When my mom was very sick a couple of years ago,  comatose and requiring blood transfusions, the doctor called our little family together and suggested that we stop "doing everything" to keep her alive.   She was nearly 90 at the time.
During our deliberations, my nephew (about 27 at the time), reminded us that she had held onto life support for her brother and her husband in spite of doctor's recommendations to let them go.  Obviously, she would want the same for herself.    
So, we told the doctor to continue doing everything possible to keep her alive.  She awoke about two days later, came home a couple of days after that, and celebrated NYE 2012 at a party in Las Vegas.
As Ann said, LIVING WILL... 

Ducky

Wow...amazing and happy story! :)

I think Soul itself can choose when to leave the body. I do not believe God wants anyone to suffer. Maybe he's just waiting for us all to finally understand that and not hang on to life when there's absolutely no quality to it. My grandfather was tired of living and wanted to move on. He asked me if it was OK for him to die and I said, "If that's what you want, I will not try to stop you". He passed away a few days later. We need to understand the needs of others. God wants us to show His love. We are merely sending  them back to God when we don't try to hold them here.  Free will to die when living is nothing but pain and illness with no cure. That's how I see it anyway. 

Colleen

TY Jh :)

I would hate to see a loved one "give up" if I thought that they may get better one day.  (That's the selfish reason.) On the other hand, I  myself, would not want to be lying in a bed, hooked up to machines and tubes, while knowing that this is my life, forever.  (Let me go.)  Still, it is a difficult question to answer, isn't it?  People with ulterior motives could certainly take advantage of such situations and most likely it would involve the patient's money.

Ducky

And getting rid of Grandpa who has 2 million dollars in the bank, even if he might get well in a month or so? Hmmmmmmm (Maybe we can just "help him along"?)

Ducky

Fish...my mother had it...I watched it...I know too. Awful.

yes. and people should have the right to refuse treatments.  

yes a person has that right to die. Sometimes you are just stuck with a terminal illness. I think I am still in the anger stage.

Ducky

:( (((hug)))

I believe it is personal and that living wills are extremely important.  I don't want to be kept alive because someone is too afraid to let me go.  I accept that when it is my time, it is my time. 

Ducky

I saw a young woman, kept alive by machines and tubes because her mother refused to "disconnect" and it went on for more than a decade. Finally, when she developed additional illnesses, her mother, a very sweet woman, let her go. A situation like that, really makes you think. So sad for all concerned.

Advances in medical care has made it possible to keep a body alive much longer than in years past. I agree with Ann that everyone should look into a living will to help protect themselves from worthless suffering.

No one should speed up the process of dying but you can stop all artificial means of extending it.

Ducky

Agreed. That's when the decisions happen...who decides what and when (if the person has no will)?

Yes. The term is Euthanasia. The problem being that religion steps in to make it suicide if he takes his own life, and that has not been changed from a grievous sin for the last century. Problem 2 being that most doctors are ruled through medical ethics not to terminate a life "while there is life, there is hope" and it could be ruled as murder if they intervened, so they won't risk doing so in helping the person. Sometimes a court order is obtained to terminate a person who is totally on life support because it is costing too much for the impoverished family. Good movie which addresses such "Ides of March" with a twist, the infidelity of the wife is brought into play, therefore it is not technically a sound reason for terminating his now comatose wife caused by a car accident, because there are other emotions that are triggered.. Jealousy. In life taking critical situations there are no other mitigating circumstances other than the person's inability to survive on his own.

The Exit Euthanasia blog gives details of a chap called Tony who is totally dependent on everyone else from sustenance to movement.

This is a question that could go on and on.I personaly don't want anyone to suffer.I pray everyday for those who are seriously ill and in pain.Howerer that beening said i don't believe we have the rigth to take our own lives.Have a Wonderful Day!!

Yes! I Think everything been said.

This is a huge ethical question even for Doctors as medicine and techology has advanced so much. I agree with most of what has been said here and simplistically everyone has the right to dignity and to most of all be pain free with as little suffering as possible. Hopefully they are in a situation to make informed decisions.

YES. I want to decide my own fate, facing death as I have in life. Everybody want's to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. I look at it my passing as a journey to a new start.

sure

I think we arrange our own coming in and going out of this existence and perhaps it is as author/healer Caroline Myss  puts forth,that we have these "spiritual contracts" with one another and we're here to experience those .In my own mind I wonder at the heaviness of the burden of asking for help to (or being asked to) end one's (or anothers')  life.I suppose I'm a bit Native on this one and would prefer to be left on the trail should I become too much of a burden Aha!!!

Yes, I believe if the person has made the decision based on informed choice, then it is theirs to make

If God gives us life, why isn't God's decision that makes the sufferrer to stop his/her body life and let his/her soul go to God sooner?

Ducky

Science can now keep "a body" alive for years but that is not really "living", if you are totally incapacitated, is it?

Ducky

Mine too but oh, so complicated. :(

Most  difficult question to answer but I do not believe in keeping any one or anything alive that is faced with a future of "existing" as opposed to "living" this includes people,animals and even plants.

I have a DNR in my will, "Do Not Resuscitate"

It`s still such a contraversial  question!!:-¬...I too believe that if the person is terminally ill or has no quality of life through illness..and are assessed to be within their "Right state of mind"..A term I strongly dislike!!...The choice should be their own..I DO agree though that it needs to be monitored via Authorative figures..Doctors and lawyers /to ensure that they are certain of the decision made and to ensure that other people aren`t forcing such decisions on them..(Eg..bump off Granny Syndrome ..:-¬..to inherit the family heirlooms!!:-)...No..It is a serious issue..and everyone has their own views on it!...I do think it terrible that people have to travel to clinics eg DIGNITAS and their relatives risk prosecution if they go with them to say their goodbyes!..i find that TERRIBLY sad!! :-(

Absolutely.  Plus I believe people are being assisted by health care institutions to assist people in drying more than we the public might be aware of.  Nobody should have to suffer if they are going to die anyway and that is there final wish.  Pain is a mother, that is not friendly.  I remember the pain my sister was in.  I took her to Kaiser Hospital before one of her last visits.  I asked her what would she recommend to me if I ever had to go through what she is going thur.  She said,  "Shoot yourself in the head."  And was not joking.

Simply put--Yes

I love what Ann Said and Colleen in my books they are both right and I would hate to suffer you wouldnt let a animal or insect or anything suffer I do feel it is important that if it is someone close to you you must tell them to go and let go I think my Mother went quicker when I told her its ok to go now and there were times I really felt that I wanted to end her life by putting a pillow over her head as she was so much in pain it is time for the law to change now

Yes, but they shouldn't be euthanized. They should NOT be on the ventilator, if they don't want it. They should NOT have a feeding tube if they don't want it. My husband said he didn't want a feeding tube when they said his cancer was terminal.

I believe NO because he also has come in this world without his/her own will.

Hey THERE!...Anyone who is REALLY interested in this issue...here`s a "MUST-READ"!!NOVEL...which addresses the issues of someone with Quadraplegia..losing the will to live...It`s called" ME BEFORE YOU"..By Jojo Moyles www.Penguin.com...fairly new out!(2012)...it doesn`t quite pass as "Chick-lit"(which I personally can`t stand)!!:-z.......Reviewed as"Truly beautiful.Made us laugh,smile and sob like a baby"!!!...It CERTAINLY PACKS A PUNCH!!!

Enjoy!!:-)

millie xx

\Thank you to every one for their openions,suggestions. For me I would not want to be kept alive, to suffer,

yes.It is the person`s desire.