one of the reason that irked me a lot as i read through all the discussions about euthanasia was this...
when my dad was very ill, we were asked by the doctor to give clear directions about how they should proceed when my dad's life was in danger. we were asked to consider this - put him on life-support despite knowing there was no hope of cure given his condition or to simply let him wither off... and we were told that if we were to put him on life support, apart from no possible cure, we could also cause him prolonged pain and suffering. to the family, it could also mean psychological stress in prolonging the death. although the doctor did not state it explicitly, it was clear that they are suggesting that we let him go.
in such a situation, it was simply between the devil and the deep blue sea. and we took the doctor's indirect advise to let him go should he go into a state of unconsciousness. in this case, are we already not being put in a position to play god? to me, the issue was not about how long more he has, the issue here was that we were put in a position to decide whether he has another moment to live.
what do you think?
when my dad was very ill, we were asked by the doctor to give clear directions about how they should proceed when my dad's life was in danger. we were asked to consider this - put him on life-support despite knowing there was no hope of cure given his condition or to simply let him wither off... and we were told that if we were to put him on life support, apart from no possible cure, we could also cause him prolonged pain and suffering. to the family, it could also mean psychological stress in prolonging the death. although the doctor did not state it explicitly, it was clear that they are suggesting that we let him go.
in such a situation, it was simply between the devil and the deep blue sea. and we took the doctor's indirect advise to let him go should he go into a state of unconsciousness. in this case, are we already not being put in a position to play god? to me, the issue was not about how long more he has, the issue here was that we were put in a position to decide whether he has another moment to live.
what do you think?
3 comments:
I support euthanasia...no arguments there.
It's certainly a sticky issue. I feel it should be a personal decision that each person can decide for oneself. That's why i really like the idea, which is brooding a this part of the world right now - each person can formulate a document (while of full consciousness) on whether he wants to be hooked up to life sustenance gadgets eventually.
This, of course, distinguishes from a recent televised case where an old lady felt that she has enou of living i.e. not terminally ill & opted to have a lethal injection. So... when does one have the right to decide to end her/his own life - when he/she is in pain/terminally ill or when one wants to leave the stage when the lingering image is still beautiful?
yup. agree. this was the purpose of the amd - advance medical directive. the tricky part is - what if there is no such document? guess it is really tricky and difficult to draw a line between suicide and allowing nature to take its course sometimes. i am of the view that it boils down to the intentionality behind the action. and this is where things get difficult.
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