Posted 10 September 2010 - 02:36 PM
A lot has already been covered. I've always wondered why a family or hospital can chose to pull the plug on someone that they don't think will ever come out of a coma because it is costing too much money but a person can't pull the plug on themselves. Well they can, but if you don't need life support to stay alive you can't. I know people who have had grandparents have their entire family come and see them and then tell them to turn off the machines. But not all suffering requires a machine to keep living.
At the same time constant pain leads to debilitating depression which makes the line between dying to end the suffering and dying to end the depression very thin. My mother has been in pain for over 20 years due to a back injury suffered in her 20's. She isn't debilitated, works, functions like a normal person, and isn't clinically depressed. But I've seen the moments where shes had too many bad days in a row and says, "I can't do this another day. Just shoot me." A few weeks later when she is having good pain-free days that mentality is completely gone and any pain induced decision she could have made would not be what she really wants. She wants the pain to stop, not life. Luckily for her and me the "wow I made it 17 days without any pain," outweigh the "ahh, I've had pain every day for 2 months, I can't do it."
I think the answer is far simpler than the lines of control. Of course I think suicide is awful and hurts everyone left behind but really, does anyone really have the right to tell you that you have to exist tomorrow. Legally and relationship wise I have to say yes, yes they do. But fundamentally, if I don't want to exist any more, for whatever reason, it's my existence, not yours. Providing a safe, uninfluenced by the current state of mind, way to make that decision and follow through is where it gets too complicated to even consider.
In the end, if someone wants to go they will find a way. Whether is pulling the plug, suicide, suicide by cop (one of the worst things ever-where you force the cops to shoot you because you are so mentally against suicide), euthanasia, if someone truly with all of their being wants out of this world, they will make it happen whether I agree the reasons are valid or not. Medically I think that should be made as hard as possible to justify and easy as possible when justified.
