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Foram
Joined: Sep 28, 2005
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Physician assisted suicide and Euthanasia controversy...matter of Individual rights?
August 22, 2006 - 09:55 AM
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Euthanasia (from Greek: ευθανασία -ευ, eu, "good", θανατος, thanatos, "death is the practice of ending the life of a person or an animal because they are perceived as living an intolerable life, in a painless or minimally painful way either by lethal injection, drug overdose, or by the withdrawal of life support.
Physician assisted suicide is where doctors assist terminally ill patients in taking their own life. This is often seen as morally distinct from euthanasia because the physician does not directly cause the patient's death but enables the patient to choose the time and circumstances of his or her own death.
Given the definitions, what are your views on these two types of assisted suicides? should it be legal? (currently it is not legal in Canada or in most countries). Do suffering persons have the right to bring an end to their lives or decide how and when they want to bring an end? From the definitions Euthansia can be seen as "murder" whereas PAS can be thought of as "compassion".....therefore...is one more "acceptable" than the other in your eyes?
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Mburu
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Re: Physician assisted suicide and Euthanasia controversy...matter of Individual rights?
August 24, 2006 - 08:13 AM
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I will just say inasmuch as people have the right to their lives, 'Mercy Killing' is plain murder. Anything outside that is just a big lie.
No doctor has the right to take other people's lives just as they do not have the responsibility in the birth of a person.
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Ángela
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Re: Physician assisted suicide and Euthanasia controversy...matter of Individual rights?
August 24, 2006 - 10:26 AM
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It is important to understand also that people suffering should have the right to decide to end with their own lives. Living in pain is not living after all. The problem is for the physician. It is hard moral conflict to decide wether to help or not a patient in such situation.
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Svo
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Re: Physician assisted suicide and Euthanasia controversy...matter of Individual rights?
August 24, 2006 - 04:59 PM
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But don't all doctors take The Oath that states they should try and save lifes as much as to their ability? I stand to be corrected! So PAS and euthanasia is plain murder there is no way someone can pacify the issue by saying if it's the patient's choice or the family's choice it is no longer murder? We must not get our vision clouded by accepted such soon enough we will be saying it is okay to kill the man that damanged your lexus because it cost you a fortune?? 
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Foram
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Re: Physician assisted suicide and Euthanasia controversy...matter of Individual rights?
August 24, 2006 - 06:57 PM
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But the owner of the lexus did not give u the permission to "kill" him/her.....did they??
well neway...this is a really a moral conflict that's one thing i think many of us can agree upon. It also depends upon how each of us view life. For some having the heart beating means you are living ur life. ..while some see that life with that much pain that comes with some diseases leaves u pretty much in a vegetative state...and question that so wat if u are "alive" in that sense... if you are so drugged up that u are incapable of feeling anything, to do anything and basically you are just suffering then that's not really "living ur life". .Surely if the patient is requesting such assistance, they can not just be completely ignored and left to feel alone and misunderstood. I agree with the person who mentioned The Oath that physicians have to take....but physicians also need to be compassionate, develop a relationship with their patient at least so much that the patient feels comfortable talking to them about their pain and how it affects their life. This is completely necessary in order to stand by the Oath and find ways to heal them but it also opens up new issues such as PAS and Euthanasia. When a patient makes such a request , i don't say that the physican should downright agree and give wat the patient wants, but i also don't think that its very human if the physican just looks the other way because s/he is more concerned with the literal definition of the Oath. I think this will just make the patient feel neglected. They come to think that out of all ppl a physician is the best person to understand their pain because of their knowledge of the condition therefore i think every physician should support the patient, let the patient see that they understand the pain and reason why they may think ending their life feels like the answer especially since in such times fmaily members also feel pressured and will not exaclty know how to deal with this and may wish to keep a distance from such fragile issues. Patients need to confide in someone, they need a trusting relationship....therefore reagardless of the ending decision, i believe it is the physician's duty to maintain that relationship .
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Ángela
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Re: Physician assisted suicide and Euthanasia controversy...matter of Individual rights?
August 25, 2006 - 12:52 PM
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I do agree with 4m, it is necessary to understand that some illnesses such as cancer can cause intolerable pain and the people who ask for euthanasia don't want to suffer anymore. One has not the right to takes another person's life (and certaintly not for a lexus...) but then again, should the doctors just sit and watch how another person is suffering? Sometimes physicians just think about the Oath and they do not remember that the subject of the Oath is the people they are helping and not just the words they say. At least these patients ask for death with a reason, not like other people who can commit suicide without any help and for reasons like money, work or "love". I can't talk for everybody but watching somebody else's pain makes us feel impotent and many of us would do anything to ease their suffering. When medicine is not enough and you know that this person would thank you more for helping her or him to die and not for standing and watch her or him in pain, wouldn't you help? Human beings are so good at causing pain (physical and moral), why not take the chance of stopping pain when requested as the last hope of someone who knows that will die but who doesn't want to spend his or her last moments suffering?
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