you nailed it especially with the opening paragraph.
or maybe that's what the system wants to open, do people end up on med$.
but overall, SC, that was well said.
First legal physican assisted death in Ontario - a big step in human dignity....
- Thread starter nottyboi
- Start date
you nailed it especially with the opening paragraph.
or maybe that's what the system wants to open, do people end up on med$.
but overall, SC, that was well said.
From my understanding of the law... it doesn't work that way. You first have to be TERMINALLY ILL WITH NO HOPE OF GETTING BETTER. Ie stage 4 cancer etc.. you need 2 doctors to certify that you are terminally ill. You then have to prove you have the mental capacity to make such a decision AND you have to be in pain too or have a horrible quality of life. If any of these factors are not met, you are not eligible for medically assisted suicide. Not to be rude, but when they first brought up the question, they did consider this matter and set up guidelines and policies to ensure no such thing will occur. So no worries there.
Yes, I too am thankful that should I be faced with a painful end, it wont have to be drawn out like those of loved ones Ihad to watch suffer a slow agonizing death as doctors did all they could to PROLONG that suffering. I am glad that should my loved ones choose to save themselves the needless suffering when death is imminent, that they may do so. As someone else mentioned, for the longest time, it was the one and only way that I felt animals had more rights than humans.
As for religion, one thing Inever understood is why they think it is so wrong to end someone's life of suffering a little earlier but don't think its wrong to intervene and keep someone alive when the disease or what have you, would have ended their life (and suffering) long before. Is it not a contradiction? I mean, you can see it as 'God is calling the person back' and you are impeding that process. If you want to use religion to justify a stance against euthanasia, should the knife not cut both ways?
In response to Twister asking about pain-management medications, the problem is often tolerance. The body begins to recognize these drugs and builds an immunity to them, metabolizing the drug quicker and quicker. A shot of morphine given to someone whos been taking it for years would cause an overdose in someone who never took it. Hence drug addicts 'chasing the first high' and needing more and more for the same effect. Furthermore, the more pain you are in the less you feel the drugs effects. In the end, a lot of people find no relief from their pain meds, esp for long, drawn out illnesses... so that's one of many issues surrounding that.
All in all, Im shocked its taken us this long to legalize what I view as a 'no-brainer'. Anyone who has felt severe pain and imagine that as their eternal reality while doctors fight to prolong it, and/or anyone who has had to witness the suffering of a loved one lingering at death's door for months and months on end, should have enough compassion and empathy to offer that person the right to end it... in fact, I should say, should not have the right to tell them they CANT. But I guess things always come in steps. First we offered DNR rights and now evolved into this. Im just grateful its happened.
Thanks
FAST
Best post on this subject,...covers all of the issues, with insight, compassion, and FACT.
FAST
An elderly woman drove her car into the Credit River earlier this afternoon. Was it a suicide attempt? 2 brave civilian men risked their lives to try and rescue her. Then the first responders risk their lives to fish her out of the lake.
A friend spent one Summer working at the TTC. "Personal injury" is a code for suicide on the TTC. The worse case was a woman who took her little child and jumped. Those suicides affected my friend terribly and he never worked at the TTC again.
A friend spent one Summer working at the TTC. "Personal injury" is a code for suicide on the TTC. The worse case was a woman who took her little child and jumped. Those suicides affected my friend terribly and he never worked at the TTC again.
I cannot and don't want to imagine the things cops, firemen and Para meds see. Dunno why people want to do those jobs, but thank god they do.
My friend was so happy when he got the TTC job for the Summer. It was basically to keep the subway stations clean, pick up litter and stuff. Then he discovered that his job description also meant cleaning up suicide scenes with blood and some small body parts still lying there. It affected him for many years, especially the one with the woman and the small child.
