As hard as it is to lose a loved one, watching them suffer in pain as their bodies degenerate towards an inevitable end is far worse.
I've lost several family members to cancer and the change over those last few weeks of life- I struggle to put it into words the amount of suffering I've seen in those whom I've lost; but its a combination of both intense physical pain and emotional turmoil that they are left to endure as they slowly reach their ends upon this earth, and I very sincerely feel that nobody should ever be forced to suffer that way against their will.
IMO when the end itself cannot be avoided, and ones quality of life is unable to be prolonged any further, the right to leave this world peacefully should be granted to anyone who is able to give fully informed, cognitive consent, or where it can be proven that their wishes have in fact been recorded (and witnessed) when they had been in that same frame of mind, prior to any incapacitation which might be present when their request is being considered/carried out.
Where the vulnerable communities (such as the disabled, the developmentally challenged, and those who may not be able to speak for themselves) are concerned, I'm not sure; but in order to ensure that all third party requests are made appropriately it almost seems logical that when/if a patient is incapacitated in some way, there is more than 1 person alone acting on their behalf. Perhaps a system could be set up where a compassionate appeal must be made by the patients power of attorney, requesting the right to a peaceful end, and that appeal could be overseen by to the human rights tribunal (or one which is specific to compassionate death alone) who would in turn render a decision (based on medical evidence) to ensure that these kinds of decisions are made soberly and with the best interest of the patient at heart.
As for 'physicians rights'; many doctors refuse to prescribe the morning after pill, to participate in the medical aspects of gender reassignment, to be involved with abortions, etc... so any laws which are passed in support of compassionate euthanasia should of course include "the right to refuse"; with a subsection which states that when refusal has been given by one medical practitioner, a referral shall be immediately made to another practitioner who supports patients rights to a compassionate end.
I say immediately because time can be very important factor. I've seen some of the strongest, most wonderful men in the world become crippled by the effects of cancer in only a few short weeks, and sometimes a few weeks is literally all the time you have.
I've lost several family members to cancer and the change over those last few weeks of life- I struggle to put it into words the amount of suffering I've seen in those whom I've lost; but its a combination of both intense physical pain and emotional turmoil that they are left to endure as they slowly reach their ends upon this earth, and I very sincerely feel that nobody should ever be forced to suffer that way against their will.
IMO when the end itself cannot be avoided, and ones quality of life is unable to be prolonged any further, the right to leave this world peacefully should be granted to anyone who is able to give fully informed, cognitive consent, or where it can be proven that their wishes have in fact been recorded (and witnessed) when they had been in that same frame of mind, prior to any incapacitation which might be present when their request is being considered/carried out.
Al Bumin said:
Where the vulnerable communities (such as the disabled, the developmentally challenged, and those who may not be able to speak for themselves) are concerned, I'm not sure; but in order to ensure that all third party requests are made appropriately it almost seems logical that when/if a patient is incapacitated in some way, there is more than 1 person alone acting on their behalf. Perhaps a system could be set up where a compassionate appeal must be made by the patients power of attorney, requesting the right to a peaceful end, and that appeal could be overseen by to the human rights tribunal (or one which is specific to compassionate death alone) who would in turn render a decision (based on medical evidence) to ensure that these kinds of decisions are made soberly and with the best interest of the patient at heart.
Al Bumin said:
As for 'physicians rights'; many doctors refuse to prescribe the morning after pill, to participate in the medical aspects of gender reassignment, to be involved with abortions, etc... so any laws which are passed in support of compassionate euthanasia should of course include "the right to refuse"; with a subsection which states that when refusal has been given by one medical practitioner, a referral shall be immediately made to another practitioner who supports patients rights to a compassionate end.
I say immediately because time can be very important factor. I've seen some of the strongest, most wonderful men in the world become crippled by the effects of cancer in only a few short weeks, and sometimes a few weeks is literally all the time you have.
