Voluntary Euthanasia?

Posted by: u5227470736789439 on 02 December 2008

Years ago when I had a lovely old sheep dog, I did not hesitate to have him put down when I suspected life would no longer be without suffering. No doubt I could have spent a lot of money on the old boy and kept him alive for perhaps a year. To me that would seem both sentimental and cruel.

I am a strong supporter of voluntary euthanasia. I do not believe it serves every human to have to struggle and suffer through a long terminal illness. It may serve some, but I believe it should be a free choice and not be seen as socially or morally unacceptable.

I intend to make sure that I never do face it myself, even if it means breaking the law to obtain a sufficiently large dose of phenobarbitone to do for myself what I did for my dog, before the suffering is greater than the joys ...

Any other views on this rather serious topic?

ATB from George

Posted on: 05 December 2008 by Svetty

The other issue which I encounter is the increasing tendency of relatives of patients with advanced Alzheimers to insist that every possible intervention be pursued to keep such patients alive. Obviously the decision over whether it is ethical to subject such patients to painful and invasive investigations and treatments must be considered in each case but as death becomes more removed from the everyday experience it seems that as a society we are less prepared to accept that it is an end we will all come to in time.