Euthanasia

Oh my, those pictures of Chantal Sebire are just heartbreaking.  :-( 

This is an issue that can really strike a nerve, as I'm sure you can imagine, Chris.  Speaking specifically if I were dealing with a parents choosing to let go, my heart would give my brain a really good fight.  Somewhere in my head I'd always wonder if the decision was made too soon and if we could've enjoyed just one more day even.  But having watched my father-in-law wither away from lung cancer, I know what the process of dying looks like. 

Truthfully, I don't know how I feel about legalizing euthaniasia.  On one hand the notion scares me because of the risk of misuse.  Suppose a large sum of money was at stake for a beneficiary of a will.  Could there be foul-play in coercing someone to consent to assisted death?  Could those suffering from mental illness, even severe depression, make such a choice?  Could those who are sick but feel burdened by the cost of medical care make the choice to preserve whatever is left for their children?  Or to no longer stress about the cost of their care? 

While I see the, almost, beauty of allowing someone in a terminal situation to control their final days and end their life with dignity, I don't believe there will ever be criteria strict enough to make it legal.

Laura, that was so helpful to bring up an example of how its done well.  It is such a hard subject and full of so much emotional baggage and often religious values as well....  taking a life, ending a life.... whose wishes are being met?  But I believe so strongly that we have to respect the values and beliefs of each person, as it applies to their own life.    When my mom knew it was time to go, I had to let go too, as hard as that was.

What reservations I have about voluntary euthanasia stem from an instinctive attachment to life. That's an instinct we all feel, I think, and, obviously, it's quite powerful. If someone is suffering to the degree that they discard this instinct and express to other human beings their desire to die, my feeling is that we owe them some form of accomodation. A blanket prohibition seems the wrong way to go.

I often feel the same way. My husband and I were so immediately sure that euthanising our cat was the correct thing, to keep her from hurting anymore, and yet it's not an option in 49 out of 50 states to those facing a painful, drawn-out, and yes, even expensive, death. Oregon is the only state to currently have Death with Dignity laws on the books, and my own grandmother is one of the few who have taken advantage of the law.

Missy, I understand your worry about the coersion aspect. It's written into the Oregon law (I should look this up to be definitive), but there are hurdles to clear before the drugs are dispensed, and that includes a two conclusive, independent (not even the same medical group or hospital!) diagnoses and a possible psychological review if even one of the doctors require it. It's hard to have family coerce their family member into this when doctors also have to sign off on the validity of the claim.

Speaking of myself, I would want the option. If I felt it was the way to not have to live in pain, watching my family suffer as well while watching me, then I want to have that. Myself, I don't feel I have the right to decide for someone else whether they live or die while terminally ill, and I don't wish for anyone else to make that determination for me. It's very difficult all around, but I do rememer hoping that my father went quickly, for his sake and mine.

This is such a difficult topic, even to know what I myself feel about it.  When I was in graduate school, I wrote a long research paper on the topic, wrestling with my own feelings.  I finally came down to the conclusion that I firmly believed the person in question should be able to decide for themselves.  But just as I was finishing the paper, my mother made a casual comment that cancer treatments have so many side effects that if she gets cancer, she would decide NOT to treat it.  And I -- you know, the one with the calmly well-reasoned belief that people should be able to do exactly that -- I felt a gut-twisting urge to yell "NOOOOOOO, you can't DO that!!!"  So I discovered that what you think you believe as a theoretical principle can make a swift U-turn when you are actually confronted with a loved one.  And that was only in a discussion, not even anywhere close to reality.

On the other hand, I've seen so many long agonizing declines that I literally shuddered to watch, or to think of that happening to another loved one, or to myself.  It's further complicated by the fact that by the time so many get to that condition, they're long past being able to express their wishes in a way that there can be any confidence that they're thinking clearly enough to make such a decision.  I also wrestle with the question of Advance Directives that state a desire not to treat.  As I found out with my research paper, what you think when far-removed from a situation may not be anywhere close to what you will think when you're in the throes of the actual situation yourself.  When I see someone in a declining condition, I often think I wouldn't want to live if that were me.  Yet they still seem to find something valuable in a very different context than the lens I look through. 

I hold this to be an absolute right.  I have a life ending disease, and have been told that during the last month,  I will become someone my wife and children will no longer know.  There will be huge personality swings.   THIS IS SOMETHING I WOULD NOT WANT ANY ONE OF MY LOVE ONES TO SEE.  I've taken steps that insure that my right is MINE!

Good for you, 1000!  I applaud you taking  the time to determine what you want to do.