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It's only legal in a few states in the USA, though.
Mike would have to travel to Oregon or Washington. They're pretty quick about processing the paperwork. California takes forever and lots of people have already died of the disease by the time the Cali courts say, "Okay, you're cleared."
It's only legal in a few states in the USA, though.
And barely, at that. In Oregon last I checked for example you must have a death sentence with less than 6 months to live, from two different doctors, and then have to jump through various hoops that aren't necessarily easy for a terminally ill person. By the time you get it all sorted you might die on your own.
I am fine with making sure that no one is pressuring you, that you are fully in charge of your faculties, and aren't simply in a spot of clinical depression. But there are so many if's and's or but's in most of these laws in the US that it's almost a pyrrhic victory that the laws got passed in the first place.
IMO the reasons for assisted suicide (imminent physical death with suffering) are too limited. People in places like Switzerland and the Netherlands have sought, and obtained, euthanasia for intense psychological suffering, for example I recall a young lady who had been so horrifically abused as a child and had exhausted all avenues of treatment for extreme anxiety and depression that she simply had no quality of life and didn't want to struggle anymore. She was an extreme case, so extreme that despite some controversy, she was granted her wish.
Mike would have to travel to Oregon or Washington. They're pretty quick about processing the paperwork. California takes forever and lots of people have already died of the disease by the time the Cali courts say, "Okay, you're cleared."
If you can afford it, flying to Switzerland I understand to be the place where its relatively simple, quick and straightforward. There's an international organization whose name eludes me at the moment, that will help you organize it and manage the necessary paperwork and clearances. ISTR the total cost was around $20K including travel expenses for two, which sounds like a lot but really is not bad, comparable to the cost of many international vacations.
The irony is that people claim this is "playing god", but they're happy to do just that in strenuously trying to avoid death with every possible medical intervention, with prayer, etc. If they really wanted to let god have his way they would just passively languish until they died, refuse pain killers, and so forth.
A classic example of people making up (or, more likely, parroting) a rationale without thinking through its implications.
One wonders what they think of those hundreds of people who leapt to their deaths from the heights of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. They chose to end it sooner rather than later. I suspect that many who supposedly oppose suicide would try and contrive an excuse for an exception in this case, in yet another example of a principle being cast aside when found to be inconvenient.
Those who have religious objections to suicide/euthanasia should decline to partake. They should not attempt to force others to do the same.
A classic example of people making up (or, more likely, parroting) a rationale without thinking through its implications.
One wonders what they think of those hundreds of people who leapt to their deaths from the heights of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. They chose to end it sooner rather than later. I suspect that many who supposedly oppose suicide would try and contrive an excuse for an exception in this case, in yet another example of a principle being cast aside when found to be inconvenient.
Those who have religious objections to suicide/euthanasia should decline to partake. They should not attempt to force others to do the same.
And those jumpers probably represented a number of religions.
I just watched a friend die from cancer. The funeral was 2 days ago. We all knew it was coming, and the last week or so was just waiting for it. I sat and held her hand at times. I prayed with her, I comforted her.
But no, I cannot imagine just killing her rather than wait on God.
Even if she begged for death? You'd just sit there and stare at her impassive to her pleas?
IMO the reasons for assisted suicide (imminent physical death with suffering) are too limited. People in places like Switzerland and the Netherlands have sought, and obtained, euthanasia for intense psychological suffering, for example I recall a young lady who had been so horrifically abused as a child and had exhausted all avenues of treatment for extreme anxiety and depression that she simply had no quality of life and didn't want to struggle anymore. She was an extreme case, so extreme that despite some controversy, she was granted her wish.
America is so backward when it comes to mental health. It's almost not even acknowledged as a problem. So many people with major mental disorders are living on the streets.
But I say this because there are a lot of people - and I suspect there are some in this very discussion - who do not think that mental illness is a good enough reason to want to die.
I can attest that sometimes mental anguish - emotional anguish - the abysmal darkness of life devoid of any real joy or happiness - and with nothing to look forward to - is a suffering often worse than physical pain - because this kind of suffering isn't just the body. It's your spirit. It cuts to the very center of who you are as a human being. As one of my favorite sci-fi shows once put it: "soulsick." And it's a sickness you never recover from. Because sometimes what you have lost can not be replaced. Over the years, life keeps taking - but never gives back. And so people disappear, the things that made life worth living ... they disappear, as well. Until one day you look up and ... no one is there. Is it any wonder why perhaps the most common fear people have is ... being alone? It explains why people feel it so necessary to describe how "he died with his family around him" because ... well, because everyone knows that being alone, dying alone, or to wake up every single day knowing there are 7 billion people on the planet - and not one of them loves you. It's an awful feeling - and it never goes away. It never stops hurting. Ever. Ever. There are no pain pills, no morphine drip, no doctor, no treatment that can cure that empty feeling of truly being alone. Knowing there will never again be another Christmas morning, no more thanksgiving dinners. No more movie nights, family vactions, backyard barbeques or walks at twilight. No more 4th of July fireworks or trips to the park, the zoo, or literally anything else. Ever. You are, in every meaningful way, already dead. Because everything that makes life worth living - every reason to endure the pain and to keep fighting - is forever beyond you.
And even if some nice famliy sees your loneliness and invites you over - it doesn't matter - because you aren't loved. Not by them. Not by anyone. You are still an outsider at their table. And you will ALWAYS be an outsider no matter where you go. Because you belong ... nowhere. A piece of dandelion fluff caught in the wind. This town, that town ... doesn't matter where you go, you will always be a stranger. Trust me ... death is sometimes preferable than to watch the world go about its business without you.
Of course I'm assuming that in the next few years, those of us living in America will find themselves living in a country that refuses to honor a request for euthanasia - and yet will simultaneously defund or cancel some or all of the government programs that might help these people - instead dooming them to a lonely life of scrounging in dumpsters and living in boxes using newspapers as blankets against an arctic vortex.
It's so easy to pass judgment on others. But I would invite everyone, come this Christmas, for those who will be sitting around a Christmas tree this year - perhaps serveral generations of their family together. The smell of homemade pies and a ham in the oven, Christmas songs playing softly in the background, children playing through the house, everyone pumped up on exchanging gifts in their comfortable, warm house.
Perhaps give a thought or two of the many people who will be very much alone. I don't mean "alone" because they couldn't get home for Christmas. I mean people who have no home to get to. I don't just mean homeless. One can have a home - but - it's really just a house. Because there is no one else. Christmas becomes just another day. And there you sit - alone - knowing that all around you there is this joy, this happiness, this anticipation of people celebrating the holidays with their loved ones. And you're not invited. No one is thinking about you. No one is going to call you. There will be no cards in the mailbox.
The anguish ... the horrible longing ... it can drive a person literally insane. Especially knowing that it will never get any better. You can bet your ass that people want to die. What kind of plan is that for any human being? If god's plan is to mentally torture a person - to treat them like Job - except they don't get a second chance and a new family - how could anyone worship a being so arbitrarily mean? Yeah, if they truly want to end the suffering, they should be able to. Just as surely as someone with a terminal disease.
This is what happens in any religion where putting god first causes us to be extraordinarily indifferent to the suffering of others. "But ... that's not what god wants for you!" Puh-lease.
I don't see any difference between providing assistance in dying and assistance in giving birth. We have no problems with going through medical extremes to help children be born, and no one considers that to be playing God. Would we watch a mother or baby struggle because of a breach birth or some other complication? No, we wouldn't. We would offer whatever help we could. Why would offering assistance to alleviate suffering in death be any different?
If you can afford it, flying to Switzerland I understand to be the place where its relatively simple, quick and straightforward. There's an international organization whose name eludes me at the moment, that will help you organize it and manage the necessary paperwork and clearances. ISTR the total cost was around $20K including travel expenses for two, which sounds like a lot but really is not bad, comparable to the cost of many international vacations.
It's called Pegasos. And it seems like a wonderfully humane way to die with dignity.
I just watched a friend die from cancer. The funeral was 2 days ago. We all knew it was coming, and the last week or so was just waiting for it. I sat and held her hand at times. I prayed with her, I comforted her.
But no, I cannot imagine just killing her rather than wait on God.
An honest question for you, BF. Do you think a doctor should let a mother struggle to have a baby naturally if she couldn't? Do you think he is playing God by assisting with the birth in a case like that? Or should mother and baby both be left to die, as life and death are in the hands of God.
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