winstonjen

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/as...fic/3042049.stm

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2...3196583700.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/australi...0may2003-17.htm

This may be more appropriate in Political Discussions, but I feel that there's an important moral aspect too.

I feel that the Pro-lifers here should butt out of a private matter and let the family decide what is best. And as for those who think that this is a 'right' that cannot be withdrawn, I would say to them that a right is optional, otherwise it would be a duty, and they have no right to enslave other human beings.

What are your views on this matter?

Bill Snedden

As listed, those URLs don't appear to be valid...

winstonjen

OK, how about these then. I hope they work this time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/3042049.stm

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...196583700.html

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...196582145.html

keyser_soze

If oregon is still sane when I get old, and if I become in such a state that I do not want to live...I'm moving. I believe in a person's freedom from suffering, even if it is by dying. For a group so determined that heaven is a good place, they sure aren't in a hurry for anyone to get there, yet they shout with glee that the "end is coming". They are absent of rational thought.

Tom Sawyer

This I also don't get.

For a group that says that only God has the right to take a life, it seems to be a real contradiction to force a person to keep on living when God has decided that the person should die - ie they can't live on without mechanical assistance.

At least the people who refuse medical treatment in favour of prayer are consistent in their beliefs, however odd they may be.

dk

I'm not sure why you're so fixated upon God. Its hard to fathom a world where medical doctors employed by bureaucrats prescribe therapeuticstarvation. The idea strikes me as medical vodoo. As a practical matter how do you feel about MORTICIAN Assisted Suicide, or A Full Service Embalmory. When a person threatens to become undignified and/or infirm they can be delivered, picked-up or escorted directly to the funeral home for a proper disposal.

penumbra

posted by keyser_soze
I'm hopeful Oregon will retain it's sanity, but worried about John Ashcroft, et al, usurping the state's authority in such matters. I have never quite understood why any government agency should try to claim the right to legally prohibit self-termination by a mentally competent human being.

So many clowns, so few circuses.

winstonjen

I don't think you understand what it is all about. The patient has complete control over the matter, and they can die at home with family and friends.

dk

Pick's disease causes severe dimensia. The patient has severe dimensia, yet you contend also has complete control. Praise the Lord, its a miracle.

I find death by starvation an odd medical treatment, under any condition.

keyser_soze

Well, if you would kindly support doctor assisted suicide, we could find a more expedient method. I favor a large dose of potassium straight into the blood stream. Quick and painless, especially if combined with a narcotic/sleep agent. It would certainly be more dignified, but we can't get the "heaven's so great we just don't want too many people getting there too quick crowd" to stop jerking off in the machinery.