Post by OscarWillebeest on Jun 6, 2008 5:45:18 GMT -5
The right to life, but not the right to die? The right to live your life as it behoofs you, but not the right to die as it behoofs you? The right to dignity, but only if such conforms to the perception of the majority. Whatever the case may be, suicide remains a contentious issue. And never before has it been easier than now.
All you require is a plain ticket to Mexico, and 40 US dollars to buy a bottle of pentobarbital, and voila, 1 hour after imbibing the contents you are no more… painlessly so. This drug is actually used in the veterinary trade, and after putting a human to sleep, it shuts down your ability to breath.
Oregon (in the US), Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium are the only places in the world where assisted suicide, euphemistically designated as euthanasia, is legal. And this, in my opinion indicates a movement towards the acceptance of same. In this vein the instance of Dr Jack Kevorkian must be mentioned: he is the American doctor, who, in the 1990’s assisted more than a 100 people to commit suicide. He was brought up on charges, and convicted of ONLY 2nd degree murder.
Depending on where you stand it is either acceptable, or not, and yes: it is open to abuse. Accordingly, wherever, and whenever same is allowed, such should be strictly controlled. But let us not get emotional, let us not say: it is wrong, either on religious grounds or for reasons that are morally justifiable.
The only question we must answer, in my opinion, is this: Are we, and everyone else entitled to die a dignified death? If so, then surely there is no percentage in, for example, if someone whose body is being ravaged by a stroke, someone whom suffers from horrifying physical deformities, someone who lies helplessly in bed, someone whose mind suffers the mental agony of being seen as a liability; desires to be released from this life in a dignified manner? Are we going to “force” such a person to suffer the mental indignity of being kept alive against their will?
If you were in their shoes, would you rather not pay this life’s piper, and get it over with? I will.
All you require is a plain ticket to Mexico, and 40 US dollars to buy a bottle of pentobarbital, and voila, 1 hour after imbibing the contents you are no more… painlessly so. This drug is actually used in the veterinary trade, and after putting a human to sleep, it shuts down your ability to breath.
Oregon (in the US), Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium are the only places in the world where assisted suicide, euphemistically designated as euthanasia, is legal. And this, in my opinion indicates a movement towards the acceptance of same. In this vein the instance of Dr Jack Kevorkian must be mentioned: he is the American doctor, who, in the 1990’s assisted more than a 100 people to commit suicide. He was brought up on charges, and convicted of ONLY 2nd degree murder.
Depending on where you stand it is either acceptable, or not, and yes: it is open to abuse. Accordingly, wherever, and whenever same is allowed, such should be strictly controlled. But let us not get emotional, let us not say: it is wrong, either on religious grounds or for reasons that are morally justifiable.
The only question we must answer, in my opinion, is this: Are we, and everyone else entitled to die a dignified death? If so, then surely there is no percentage in, for example, if someone whose body is being ravaged by a stroke, someone whom suffers from horrifying physical deformities, someone who lies helplessly in bed, someone whose mind suffers the mental agony of being seen as a liability; desires to be released from this life in a dignified manner? Are we going to “force” such a person to suffer the mental indignity of being kept alive against their will?
If you were in their shoes, would you rather not pay this life’s piper, and get it over with? I will.