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Right to Die 
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A paralysed man who wants a doctor to be able to lawfully end his life can proceed with his "right-to-die" case, a High Court judge has ruled.

Good!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17336774

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Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:13 pm
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Zippy wrote:
Good!
+1
If that were me I'd want to die too.

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Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:36 pm
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Sorry but I'm going to have to call 'Headline Fail'.

This isn't a right to die case nor even a right to be helped to die case- it's a right to be killed. While the effect for the patient is the same, it is actually a whole different question, especially for any medical staff involved.

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Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:07 pm
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You are correct Jim. But if you had a pet with similar ailments, you would be fined and possibly banged up, if you didn't kill it. Why can we be Kinder to other species than our own?

I had to watch as my mother slowly suffocated, over several days.

Now I have to do the same with my girlfriend's mother.

When my cat had a stroke and her kidneys failed, we could end her suffering...

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Mon Mar 12, 2012 8:48 pm
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IMO, there's a line between 'the right to demand the cessation of care' and the 'right to demand to be killed'. The former I can cope with - you're simply letting nature take it's course. There's a big moral difference (let alone legal) between that and demanding that someone do something which will consequentially cause you to die. I can't really bring myself to agree with the notion that's something you should be able to demand another person to do for you.

I'd even go as far as to say that I would not consider it immoral for someone to be helped to be in a situation where they have a simple choice, say to flick the switch or press the button and something happens and you die. But at the end of the day (IMO) you can't ask someone else to kill you. That's simply not a burden that's fair to place on anyone else's shoulders, no matter how much you may want it to happen and no matter how much they wish to comply with your request. You have to do it yourself.

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Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:22 pm
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Following that thought, Jon, it's not beyond the wit of man to conceive a device that this poor guy could activate himself.
However, you'd then be complicit and should there perhaps be a ruling with regard to that situation?

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Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:44 pm
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ProfessorF wrote:
Following that thought, Jon, it's not beyond the wit of man to conceive a device that this poor guy could activate himself.
However, you'd then be complicit and should there perhaps be a ruling with regard to that situation?

There are cases where opiates are used for extreme pain relief, and they are self-administered. "adequate pain relief" is sometimes fatal.

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Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:06 pm
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From my POV this is a quite unique case, this man has no physical ability to help end his own suffering, except to make his wishes known and try to get protection for anybody who is *willing* to help him. It's assisted suicide because he has no functional ability to commit it himself. I don't feel that he's demanding anyone kill him against their own wishes or moral objections, he's just saying that if/when he gets to the point that being trapped inside his own head is too much for him to bear (and frankly, the fact that he's not there yet is of itself more than I think I would be able to cope with) that anyone who helps him to end his life be given some form of protection from prosecution.

It's a right I would want myself in the same situation and I don't see what he's asking for as any different to flipping a switch, at the end of the day (IMO) it's his life and he should be allowed to end it if he wants to, the fact that he is physically unable to makes his needs unique, but no less valid.

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Mon Mar 12, 2012 10:41 pm
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I have a chronic respiratory condition, which means I could end up on my deathbed struggling for every last breath. I would much rather "flick a switch" and die, or have a doctor administer a lethal dose of medication, than struggle for hours or even days before my lungs finally give out.

At the end of the day it should be the patient's choice (obviously doctors should not be forced to participate if they don't want to).

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Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:08 pm
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Or you could drop some LSD and trip your way out of here...

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Mon Mar 12, 2012 11:25 pm
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jonbwfc wrote:
IMO, there's a line between 'the right to demand the cessation of care' and the 'right to demand to be killed'.
So by your logic he chould choose to refuse to refuse food and drink and suffer a painful death over several days, but he can't choose a quick and painless death?
Sorry that just doesn't make sense to me.
I don't like cruelty, but it amazes me how cruel we (as a society) can be sometimes when we're claiming to take the moral high ground.

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Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:14 am
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The "you wouldn't put a dog through that" argument always wins with me.

However, that's one job no one signs up to vet school for... so imagine a doctor with a hypocritical oath putting on a black hood.

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Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:26 am
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Isn't that alond the lines of "Do no harm"?
If so I could easily convince myself that I'd be doing harm by forcing him to live like that against his will.

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Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:33 am
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My gf's mother has a non-assist clause in her patient decree. The doctors are not allowed to give her any medication which would prolong her life, they can't force feed her (nourishment pumped directly into the stomach etc.) and they are not allowed to resucitate her. They can only give her pain killers and ensure she is as comfortable as possible.

But it is still very distressing to watch.

Yes, I don't envy a doctor who is asked to end somebody's life, but on the other hand, if they are that far gone or immobilised, that they can no longer "live" and have no chance of ever recovering, I would consider it a mercy to help them. But as long as that is illegal, I'll have to settle for sitting there and watching them crying out in agony in their sleep, because they don't have the ability to wake up or open their eyes. :(

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Tue Mar 13, 2012 5:06 am
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My Nan died on Sunday. Cancer spread through her body and she was a real mess in the end. My Mum was with her and although she said she probably wasn't in pain (Morphine drip) it was horrible, she cried for help and she wouldn't put an animal through the same thing. Why is it such a bad thing then if two months ago before it got to that point (and it was known she was never going to be cured) she could take something and drift away?

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