Do people have the right to die?

Question

As a Christian, I still believe a person has the right to die, depression, terminal illness, vegetable (as in one must pull the plug) or being paralyzed (trapped in a lifeless prison). I am not saying I am right or just, I just believe it should be a right for any human. I believe in medical cases, it should offer assistance. I have just watched "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" but have always believed this. What do you think and why?

Answer 1

Terry Schiavo died a very cruel death of dehydration. It took her TWO WEEKS to actually die after the feeding tube was removed.

I watched a 94 year old man die of dehydration in a nursing home.  It took him one whole week to die after he was no longer getting IV's or or any source of liquid.   As his wife was a friend of my family, I took her there every day, and went to check on him when she was not feeling well.  When I saw his eyes turn cloudy grey, I told her she better go right away because I thought he was going to die.  He died shortly after she arrived. I later read that clouding up of the eyes is a sign of kidney failure.  I heard the doctor tell his wife the week before that the death wold be painless.  I am not convinced.

The man's wife (an RN) told me that she thinks her father had died from an overdose of morphine because the doctor wanted to spare him a long painful death after a massive heart attack.

I think an overdose of morphine in a circumstance in which the person is already dying could be an act of kindness, but then we get into the area of who decides.

The label "vegetable" is too freely applied to people who are impaired by illness or accident.  If a person cannot talk, there is a high liklihood the "vegetable" label will be attached, and often by those who have an economic interest in wanting the person dead... eg. nursing homes who don't want so many Medicaid patients (Medicaid pays about half of private pay rates and even less of what nursing homes get for people on Medicare.); relatives who don't want the person's life savings to be exhausted, etc.

There is no easy answer to this one.  But the medical profession is taking the easy way out for them in letting people die horrific deaths by dehydration.

Answer 2

They should also have the Right  to Live....like Terry Shivo should have had. I still have trouble believing that really happened in America.

Edit.. When that Dr Death..or whatever his name was ..was helping people die..it was against the law. But Terry couldn't speak. Even though she MIGHT have said before that she wouldn't want to live that way..it's different when it happens. She wasn't even the same person anymore ..but maybe she wanted to live. I thought it was against the law to kill somebody. I worked for 7 years with people even worse shape than she was. They didn't want to die. I'd hate to think if that Gov...or whoever it was..came to that care center. He'd probably kill everybody in it. You've never been around them, I think. They have personalities and most of them are happier than we are. Believe me..I didn't want things to happen to me either...but I don't want them to kill me..just because this is not the life I would have chosen for myself. It's  WRONG WRONG WRONG!!!

Answer 3

This is a very complex question. 100 years ago if you fell and broke your neck you were most likely dead on the spot, no questions asked. It hasn't been until recently that doctors can keep someone alive in such dire condition. Doctors from 100 years ago can hardly be criticized for failing to use technology they didn't have, but should modern doctors be required to keep someone alive even against their will? Is there a difference between assisted suicide and simply letting them die? I don't think that I support euthanasia, but if someone wants to die it is their choice. We as humans are defined by our choices, and although I think that is one of the most selfish decisions any person can make, I still believe they have the right to die if they want to.

Answer 4

I don't believe in taking any life-I don't even eat meat.

I'm against abortion, the death penalty, murder, or euthanasia.

I don't mind "pulling" the plug-as technology is not natural..It's a good way to "try" and see if the person will recover, but if they are not then it's good to let their souls go the way they planned. However there are many cases of pl miraculously awaking from a coma after being on lifesupport for more then 40 years! It makes one wonder, doesn't it?

I believe in a God who is against harming or killing life/body-that which holds the soul is sacred-as a temple is.

My belief in the fact that we plan our lives before bearth (constantly reincarnating after being in heaven/with god to progress and learn!) Those who murder are evil souls who do not reach God by choice. They have no plan and so ruin the plans and lives of others. Killing them restarts the cycle eventually.  This is why spiritually speaking, many of those souls will be blocked from reincarnating soon. It will be a slow process-but what 2012 is really about-Having a mass amount of good souls be born in their place. Right now I do not believe killing them helps their souls change. They learn nothing from a death of punishment. The cycle just continues as the resentment , fear, anger, and teh illness continue.

Some may be lucky, born into a VERY spiritual home with parents who nurture them back to goodness. It's complex!

Suicides are victims of taking on too much on their life chart/plan. They are warned b4 they come, but free will is our gift. Their bodies and minds go ill from too much-and they break their contract with god. They are taken to heaven/God and cleansed, rest, and heal. They are loved and cherished!

They know after how wrong it was to take their life and must return to Earth one day to take on some of the lessons they left behind in the last life. Some people despite the odds, know how wrong it is to kill oneself and with the help of suicide hotlines, friends, support groups, family- they pull through! Love and support really help..Their prayers for less on their plate will also work.

I'm against animal death-b.c I know we can live without it. the Sikh's have since the 1400's. Like them, I believe in the concept that animals have souls-but are lower than us. We no longer should be going by a killing instinct. In fact, most humans would barf at seeing a carcass with blood, and not be able to eat it- all carnovores can, even omnivores.

Our canines esemble that of the horse-to puncture fruit and chew grains. I believe in the sacred body and the soul.

I do not judge people who havn't reached nor will ever reach this conclusion on Earth. My family eats meat, I know people who have had abortion, and I know many people want the bad guys to "pay"-but that is not my way.

I value others right to live the way they want as well-and so please take this as "my opinion" and nothing more.

SInce I believe in a life plan, I believe evryone, even the disabled-to the extreme!! have the right to live..Hellen Keller....prime example....inspirational..we just don't know what a soul will do with their life or what impact we have on it.

The father who killed his disabled daughter, probably, tho not evil soul, broke his contract and her contract with God-to go thru whatever hard times were meant to be..like suicide cases. The soul probably won't progress as much as it could have now. A soul will NOT go into a body that they didn't want to live in. that's my belief :)

Answer 5

Yes, they do.  Doctor assisted suicide is legal here in Oregon if you meet qualifications.  I don't understand why the most governments think they have such domineering control over our lives.  To sentence someone to a life of pain and misery because you are forcing your morality onto them?  Unbelievable.

Answer 6

I believe that people have a right to die.

We put ill animals to sleep out of 'kindness' even though thy can't consent so it's only fair to do the same to humans.

I mean, who cares if someone dies? It's not really a negative thing if you believe in an afterlife, and even if you don't I believe that death is better than a life of pain.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Having a choice is what makes us free as human beings. No one has the right or should have the power to decide for another whether they live or die. Hopefully you know your loved ones enough to know what to in a situation of "pulling the plug". Some believe death is bad, some believe death is good, I believe death is our final experience and should be embraced and not feared. One Love.

Answer 9

If they'd pulled the plug on Terry Schiavo straight away instead of spending 10 years providing expensive medical care and arguing in the courts think of all the thousands of dollars that they could have saved and spent on providing clean water and medical care for some small village in Africa. They may have saved the lives of dozens of little children.

But obviously one American vegetable is worth more than 30 foreign kids.

Edit

I don't consider dehydration an  acceptable form of euthanasia - surely if our pets can be killed painlessly people deserve the same regard.

Answer 10

Will the REAL "January Jane" please stand up??

I don't believe you should take risks with your life..much less kill yourself. But...lots of people take serious "death defying" risks every day...and people admire them for it. The astronauts take risks. They have to be ready to die when they go up.

Answer 11

to answer the headline, not in the U.S. they don't have the right to die(nor in the bible{suicide}), I'm an atheist and i believe if a person really wants to they can die(by means of suicide), but other people should not be a deciding factor, no one should have the right to assume another person wants to die.