A dying wish

6 Comments

You are at the hospital for the like the 30th time to visit a family member who has been very sick. They have been in and out of the hospital many times over the past couple of years. Then out of nowhere you get find out from the doctor that they are dying and have only weeks to live and that the natural death will be extremely painful in the last few days. You are told of possible treatments that may not work or have a really low success rate ( like 10% or less ). You talk with your family member and they express that they would like to end it all ( after saying their goodbyes and making sure their will is in order ). Now as I have forgot to say this already, you are the person the family member signed over power of guardianship ( the person who can decide any issues as far as health care goes and speak for the patient if they cannot .. care, no care, etc.. ). The hospital, doctors, law enforcement, and other family members ( some who agree and some who do not ) decide to get involved when you let them know of the family member's wish to end their life. 
This type of act is a mercy killing, which is the act of putting a person to death painlessly. Victims of mercy killing include persons who are in vegetable state or those who suffer from an incurable and painful disease or condition. In the U.S., Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act in 1994 which allows terminally ill patients to end their lives through the voluntary self administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose. Not sure of the laws now about this but I do know that at the time the state that you are in during this considers it murder not D.D.A. . 

Now to get to the debated part and my question(s) : 
1. Do you know of anyone who has gone through this or been through this yourself ?
2. What do you think about this and what would you do ? 
3. Is it wrong or right to do it no matter what ?

do nothing 1
put them out of their misery 7
do nothing 0
other 3
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Comments ( 6 )
  • harukim
    8 years ago

    Maybe my personal rule does not help you in this case, but here it is..."Hope until the last minute".

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  • Shrunk
    9 years ago

    1. Not sure actually, I know a couple relatives ended up on life support, but I never really understood the details of it back then
    2. If the choice was that clear as in your scenario then of course it would be easy, but i doubt it often works out that way...
    3. people can feel however they want about it but personally I don't see it as wrong

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  • charli.m
    9 years ago

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnu340_terry-pratchett-choosing-to-die_shortfilms

    Very hard to watch. It's a documentary about assisted dying. It does have a man die in it.

    Terry Pratchett passed away just this week, not through assisted suicide, though he had all the initial set up, I believe.

    I believe it should be an option for terminal patients or people with a progressive disease who wish to avoid losing their quality of life.

    If it were myself or a loved one making that decision...I don't know that I could do it myself, and I dont know how I'd cope with a loved one making that choice. This film makes me cry every time I've watched it. The emotional pain for all involved...it hurts to even imagine.

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    • kingofcarrotflowers
      9 years ago

      " AT LAST SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER "

      " Terry took death's arm and followed him through the door and on to the black desert under the endless night "

      Sad times, but what a pratchett way to go

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      • charli.m
        9 years ago

        Yeah, that made me teary.

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  • kingofcarrotflowers
    9 years ago

    I don't know of anyone personally who has been through this but I believe that if someone has a short time left that will be filled with pain and misery and the person is coherent in the fact that they don't want that I believe they have the right to what they want and I believe that as long as there is clear consent and proof of consent then anyone who might assist in that shouldn't be punishable by law, they're going through enough providing a comfortable end to a loved one

    What would I personally do? It's hard to put myself in that situation and judge my potential actions but I think I'd respect their wish

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