Euthanasia Bill in Scotland

[bigbroon]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/8471553.stm

Assisted suicide bill published by MSP Margo MacDonald

Independent MSP Margo MacDonald, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, called for a change in the law

A bill aiming to give terminally ill people the right to die has been published at the Scottish Parliament.

MSP Margo MacDonald, who has Parkinson's disease, brought the bill to make it legal for someone to seek help to end their life.

It is not illegal to attempt suicide in Scotland - but helping someone take their own life is against the law.

The MSP wants terminally ill people to be able to ask willing doctors to help them die at a time of their choosing.

How are opinions on this? I know this is a highly controversial issue, and a debate on whether or not Euthanasia is "moral" or whatever is highly likely, but I'm looking more for what people think about this particular bill, and what they make of the "security" measures. I very much doubt this'll actually happen, but it's interesting to see it actually come up in Parliament.

 

[Dancingweapon]

My feelings on the issue of assisted suicide have always been the same but they may change when I get older.

I feel that people should die with dignity and if they want to end their life without being demoralized by an illness then they should be allowed to.

 

[Hexx]

My feelings on the issue of assisted suicide have always been the same but they may change when I get older.

I feel that people should die with dignity and if they want to end their life without being demoralized by an illness then they should be allowed to.

Agreed, in addition to that, many terminally ill patients feel like they are a burden to their families as well as society, so they feel that assisted death is justified, since they will be dying anyways. What's wrong with saving them, and their families, a couple of thousand dollars (or other monetary equivalent) as well as pain and suffering and just letting them request a doctor assisted death?

 

[Morcheeba]

I feel strongly that those who are of sound mind should be allowed the choice.

If they are not living a life worth living then by all means grant them the option of ending what to them may very well be life in torment. Anything less is criminal.

 

[bigbroon]

I feel strongly that those who are of sound mind should be allowed the choice.

If they are not living a life worth living then by all means grant them the option of ending what to them may very well be life in torment. Anything less is criminal.

I agree, which is why suicide is legal. The issue with Euthanasia is that someone else has to be involved, and most people's opposition to it, other than the religious reason they have, is that the system can be abused. I personally support the idea of Euthanasia, and agree with everyone who has posted so far; I still don't think this bill will pass, though. No matter how "right" something is, there are some taboo subjects that you can never see political sheep ever letting themselves support. When it comes down to a vote, I think they'll vote against it, which saddens me.

 

[Morcheeba]

I agree, which is why suicide is legal. The issue with Euthanasia is that someone else has to be involved, and most people's opposition to it, other than the religious reason they have, is that the system can be abused. I personally support the idea of Euthanasia, and agree with everyone who has posted so far; I still don't think this bill will pass, though. No matter how "right" something is, there are some taboo subjects that you can never see political sheep ever letting themselves support. When it comes down to a vote, I think they'll vote against it, which saddens me.

Yes I understand the difference. I suppose I didn't really touch on euthanasia. I support it.

I think it should be witnessed by an official, and the way in which someone passes should be humane. All in all I support it.

 

[Dejavu]

I dont even care if someone is of sound mind or terminally ill. If someone wants to die they should be allowed and assisted if necessary.

 

[Mirewen]

There are 3 types of euthanasia:

Voluntary - The person requests it and wants it.

Unvoluntary - It is decided that the person wants it by a caretaker because the person wants but can't decide for themselves (severe mental retardation, coma, etc).

Involuntary - Against someones will (what most people would call murder).

I agree with voluntary, who is to tell you that you aren't allowed to end your life if you want to?

Unvoluntary is iffy because you're basically trusting someone else to tell you that the person doesn't want to live anymore (I only know of one case where I agreed with it)

Obviously I do not agree with involuntary.

 

[Acutie]

I am firmly on the side of the right to die.

 

[Dido]

I don't usually post but I was moved to hunt down this blog post by Dan Savage the he wrote right around the time Oregon tried to pass a similar law.

"I would like to be enveloped in the love of a good caregiver I would get," she says.

Don't we all want that kind of death? Wouldn't it be wonderful if each of us could enjoy a Hallmark death? Wouldn't it be ideal if each of us passed from this life into the next—aka "the void"—enveloped in the love of good caregivers and under the care of competent "pain management" professionals? But not everyone is so lucky. Some of us have to endure deaths that are gruesome and protracted and excruciatingly painful, deaths that involve pain that cannot be "managed," deaths that our loving caregivers can only stand helplessly by and witness.

"You don't know how you're going to feel at the end of your life," the widow planning to vote for I-1000 says. "I want to have the choices available to me."

I also had to watch a family member die pretty slowly from a horrible disease. I know that he wanted to go down fighting (and he did) but I'm not sure I would want to go the same way. Anyway, personally, I don't see anything wrong with making that option available to people. We already have things like DNR orders and other measures we can take to give us some measure of choice when our health takes a turn for the worse.

 

[Keryan]

Agreed, in addition to that, many terminally ill patients feel like they are a burden to their families as well as society, so they feel that assisted death is justified, since they will be dying anyways. What's wrong with saving them, and their families, a couple of thousand dollars (or other monetary equivalent) as well as pain and suffering and just letting them request a doctor assisted death?

Try MILLIONS. My mother took about a year and a half to die. It cost well over a million in hospital bills. I am for a persons right to choose. There would need to be save gaurds. More than one offical, and make it so the officals are not the only one<s> the provider gets everytime they help someone die with dignity. God knows we have enough usuless government branches, they could always make one for this and toss one of the more useless ones. Also there would need to be extreme resitrictions on assisting children to die. Basically be there is no other option kinda thing. I think Children is where the bills tend to get tossed out because. We love out families so strongly. No one wants them to suffer, yet would not want to willingly kill them. Make it a process kinda like adoption, where there must be counciling etc before it can happen.