Dr. Kevorkian Out Of Prison

I see no reason why people should not be able to terminate their own lives and have doctors assist them to make the procedure painless. Why do people have to suffer for years just to satisfy some twisted notion of ethics?

Obviously there should be some regulation of it. I mean, one can imagine situations in which a person who stands to inherit money, property, etc encourages a person to undergo the procedure, when he might not do so on his own. So, yeah, I dont think that
it should be something you can do on the spur of the moment (of course, you could always do it the old-timey way and shoot yourself in the head), but it should be legal. Hopefully some of the already brain-dead politicians will opt for the procedure :slight_smile:

[quote]Mick28 wrote:
Another strong argument against termination of life is that those wanting it might be depressed in some way. If they are not allowed to terminate their life they may feel better and be glad that they are alive.
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Well, you are right to point out that it’s not as simple as a personal right’s question. However, I would imagine that MOST extremely ill people are depressed. They are depressed exactly because they have to live with so much pain.

Obviously such people aren’t going to be ambulating about in their wheel-chairs singing “zippity do da. zippity i, oh,what a lovely day to die”. I think if you set “non-depression” as a standard which people wishing euthanasia must meet, then nobody is going to be eligible.

[quote]Mick28 wrote:
entheogens wrote:
Mick28 wrote:
Another strong argument against termination of life is that those wanting it might be depressed in some way. If they are not allowed to terminate their life they may feel better and be glad that they are alive.

Well, you are right to point out that it’s not as simple as a personal right’s question. However, I would imagine that MOST extremely ill people are depressed. They are depressed exactly because they have to live with so much pain.

Obviously such people aren’t going to be ambulating about in their wheel-chairs singing “zippity do da. zippity i, oh,what a lovely day to die”. I think if you set “non-depression” as a standard which people wishing euthanasia must meet, then nobody is going to be eligible.

Again, to argue the other side, why not treat the depression, or any other emotional abnormality.

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Because if you give them all kinds of mood altering drugs or pain medication some DA wannabe politician will bust your drug pushing ass, even if you are a doctor.

You see, the allmighty nanny has all her bases covered.

[quote]Mick28 wrote:
If I were to argue the other side I would say that YOU have no idea if the person is going to get better or not. And that there might be a cure discovered a few months or weeks after the person is killed.
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Most peole with end-stage degenerative illnesses have no hope of getting better. As for the idea that a cure could be discovered, that’s a fucking pipe dream. That never happens in medicine.

[quote]Mick28 wrote:
Again, to argue the other side, why not treat the depression, or any other emotional abnormality.
[/quote]

People with hopelessly debilitating illnesses have every fucking right to be depressed over their situations. They don’t want therapists and they don’t want medication- they just want their lives back. And if they can’t have that, then being subject to the mental health nazis is just another indignity to suffer.

Who the hell is some quack psychiatrist to tell me that I have a ‘mental disorder’ because I don’t like being sick and dependent?

Very depressed people or those with disabilities so severe to make life miserable should be given the chance to become suicide bombers for America. Strap on a few sticks and take a stroll in Tehran or Damascus or Sadr City (in just the right neighborhoods).

[quote]Mick28 wrote:
CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Mick28 wrote:
CappedAndPlanIt wrote:
Pro.

Your life, your right to end it if you see fit.

With that logic suicide would be legal. You better think again.

Suicide should be legal.

Should be? But it isn’t.

That’s why I tried to point out that you are on shaky ground with your original assertion as there are in fact laws which prohibit taking ones own life.
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The fact that there are laws doesn’t mean there should be laws. There have been laws against women voting, against teaching a slave to read, etc, etc.

Rights should dictate laws. Laws do not dictate rights.

Everybody has the right to choose how they would like to punch out, very few choose to exercise that right.

The thing with some terminally ill, such as those assisted by Dr Kevorkian, is that they were not necessarily in a position to be able to do so for themselves.

Of course, I’m not a proponent of suicide, and when teens or healthy adults commit suicide I’d say then it would be tragic, perhaps a subsequence of depression which should be treated.

I simply don’t believe that we should force people to endure sickness and disease just because we are able to. If the person is rational and not trivially depressed, then they should be able to make up their own mind… over some period of time.

If you are against it due to religious concerns, I’d suggest that God is perfectly able to act as a judge in any situation, so have faith and simply let Him worry about it. It isn’t about forcing people to behave in a certain way, it is about letting people make choices and facing judgment for those choices.