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I do feel like adults should be able to end thier lives if they choose, but I've always been uncomfortable with doctors helping. Seems to go against the whole do no harm thing.
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I am very much in favor of the option of euthaniasia for someone in their later years who is slowly dying of something horrible and painful and debilitating.
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I am also very much in favor of not permitting an 11 year old to sign away their life and to let a doctor kill the child.
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There is a lot of ground in the middle and I'm not sure how / where I draw that line.
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I very much support people being able to go out in their own terms particularly if suffering.
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I'm very hesitant about younger people in a bad spot in their life choosing to off themselves.
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Maybe the assisted policy should really have severe limitations to those in significant suffering and but even that provides huge definitional barriers.
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I think the debate here is over who can give rational consent.
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If you're going to have end-of-life euthanasia, then I don't see how you can exclude children. Kids suffer and die from horrible diseases just like adults. If society decides that death is a mercy to end suffering, then it would be extra cruel to deny that death to children.
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I'm in favor of this for physical conditions with no hope for recovery. I'm not in favor of it in cases like depression.
It is obvious to me from just a few posts in this thread how wrought with issues and pitfalls this subject is.
How does one define and ensure "consent"
How is "suffering" measured and proven?
Is there any kind of objective measure or scale for "suffering"
What exactly is meant by "terminal"
What starts out as "protection", will later be termed a "barrier" and some organization will try to eliminate that "barrier".
We have greater ability to reduce and minimize pain and suffering than ever before in the history of humanity. Palliative care has greatly progressed. It seems ironic to me that now, with the pain relieving capability we have, euthanasia is making such a push in society.
Economic arguments will be made. These only make the issue worse. "I don't want to be a financial burden" could become an accepted reason for allowing euthanasia. Many people who would typically be a champion of the poor, will close their eyes to how this attitude will result in the poor being pressured to accept suicide instead of palliative or even life-saving care.
Assisted suicide is a pandora's box that we should have kept closed.
People of integrity expect to be believed, when they're not, they let time prove them right.