Physician Assisted Suicide

[Soverign Grace]

Agree.
We are allowed to be kinder to our animals than we are to our parents.

If a person has enough brain cells left to choose...in most places people are allowed to pinch there lips closed and refuse food and water.

In the Home where my mother was there were two sisters. One died..the other sister then refused food and water...by law here, the care workers are not allowed to force feed anyone.
Yes, there are many different scenarios...
Even I myself have obviously "taken myself" out of the hands of God as it were. If I "just trusted God" then I would not be taking blood pressure pills and heart pills etc...
So , for me the people who say- " It must be all up to God" ..yet they take themselves or their kids to the doctor or hospital, are talking out of both side of their mouth at the same time!! A conviction should be a conviction...

My own faith is not as strong as it ought to be..or used to be.
And I am a real wimp when it comes to pain!!

Nice that we are "on the same page" for once eh? :)

That's a good point about taking bp pills and not just 'leaving it to God.' I think it should be up to the individual. Only they know how much pain they're experiencing. We have no right to paternalistically tell them what they should or should not suffer.

 

[Helen]

That's a good point about taking bp pills and not just 'leaving it to God.' I think it should be up to the individual. Only they know how much pain they're experiencing. We have no right to paternalistically tell them what they should or should not suffer.

I refused blood pressure pills for so long...it would get sky high! Scary, but I wanted to "please God" by not taking any medication.

Then one day my adult married daughter said to me.. " Well thanks a lot mum, so you are 'proving your point' by not taking meds to stop you having a heart attack or stroke...but what about me...?
If you stroke , but DON'T die, but you are left sitting in a wheelchair, drooling, with half a brain...it is ME who will have to visit you daily, and spoon gruel into you etc etc...stop being so selfish and take pills!!

 

[Nancy]

I refused blood pressure pills for so long...it would get sky high! Scary, but I wanted to "please God" by not taking any medication.

Then one day my adult married daughter said to me.. " Well thanks a lot mum, so you are 'proving your point' by not taking meds to stop you having a heart attack or stroke...but what about me...?
If you stroke , but DON'T die, but you are left sitting in a wheelchair, drooling, with half a brain...it is ME who will have to visit you daily, and spoon gruel into you etc etc...stop being so selfish and take pills!!

Lol!

 

[Helen]

Lol!

Needless to say..I DID start taking the pills ...
My daughter's both "boss me around"...our rolls are reversed now. Hahaha!!

 

[Mayflower]

I think differently than some Christians about this issue. I watched my mother die a HORRIBLE death from cancer. We were left with a large bottle of morphine, which I later learned doctors sometimes leave with families when a loved ones death is imminent, to help usher them into the next world. I wish I had been smarter. My mother SUFFERED.

Then I watched my mother-in-law suffer the same way. I demanded that she be medicated and the ditzy nurse smiled and said it was on order; as my mother in law lay there gasping for every breath. My friend with cancer called me crying that she didn't have enough money to buy her cancer prescription. Within a few weeks she passed away. I knew she took her own life as we had talked of it many times. She did not want to hang on in a nursing home.

When I visited my MIL in the nursing home I had to pull my sweater over my nose; the stench of urine and decaying bodies was so bad. I told my husband he'd better help me die before he put me in a place like that. I told him I'd crawl out of there. He said the place is like a prison; when someone leaves their bed a buzzer goes off.

All we saw were old old people, tongues hanging out, half slid-down in wheelchairs, not alive but not dead. That is no life. And I do not believe God wants a person's body to be kept alive with their mind gone. In case no one has looked into it, rape happens in those places. One of those high profile cases where a woman was brain dead and a hospital fought to keep her alive (for $$$ nothing else) the family saw the woman's stomach swell; she had been raped by an orderly.

There is no one who could tell me that God wants a person to be kept alive under those conditions. My MIL piteously asked to be taken home but she became incontinent and no one was in a position to care for her.

Euthanasia can be a slippery slope but so can anything else.

One of my family member's has to care for dying patients and it takes a horrible toll. There are some awful deaths. It's so unnecessary when we have the means for people to slip peacefully into the next world.

I believe God is a humane being. Money is one of the biggest motivators of those who push to keep people alive (or rather their bodies). A nursing home tried to entrap my cousin. She had no one and they refused to allow her to leave. It really opened my eyes as to how evil some people are. My cousin called me hysterical. I had to threaten the director with legal action, then they let her out. She told me they wanted her condo. It's a sick system driven by $$.

Please re-think your stance before consigning another human being to living a life they don't want to live. We just had to let our beloved wire-haired terrier go. That little pup defended me with her life and attacked a huge dog 10 times her size. I owed it to her to let her go before she suffered. As much as I wanted her to stay with me I had to make the decision what was best for HER. How in the Name of GOD can we do any less for humans?

Friends of ours just shared that their brother was struck on the side of the road by a drunk driver and lost his leg. He had to wear a waste bag, which was bad enough. The doctor told him they had to take the other leg. He said that he would need round-the-clock care, and would have to sell his house to pay for it. He didn't want to leave his wife destitute. He kissed his wife of many years, told her he loved her and went into his bedroom, wrapped himself in sheets and shot himself. What a terrible, violent death. Why is it so hard for us as a nation to face the fact that sometimes the thought of living is too bad and people will find a way to leave? Why don't we allow them to leave peacefully and humanely? Why force their loved ones to live with seeing them die a tragic death by gunshot?

These aren't anti-Christian views. God is a God of compassion and I don't believe He wants people to die a violent death. Just like how we let our terrier go with dignity, surrounded by love, and slip peacefully to heaven where she'll wait for us, we should do no less for our fellow humans. In this regard, animals are treated better than humans. I don't think God wants or requires that.

Thank you for sharing. This is very heart wrenching and I have been hurting inside on this subject today. Mainly thinking of my mom. That was a very hard time when we found out she only had like10% of her heart working. She asked the doctor to put her to sleep and the doctor sort of chuckled and said he couldnt do that . But that stuck with me. She got better, even gained some of her heart back. But sometimes I wonder if she did really want to live all those years in a nursing home. Because my older sister ended up visiting her once a week, but I was recovering in in patient programs with my own inner demons. It very much hurts to think my mom spent all that time wanting to die.

And I dont know if it would have hurt more if she were able to take her life or not.

But I understand there are two sides to everything. And your experience has opened my eyes more to why people believe physician induced suicide would be acceptable.

I guess you cant regret a decision when you are dead, but I've dealt with depression all my life. Ive had times I wanted to take my life .And if I got a terminal illness, Id probably feel the same way.

The line is decisions based on feelings and when it is really mercy to let a prson die. That is a very hard decision to put on someone in a lot of pain.

My heart hurts about it. I think more about my mom and those suffering in nursing homes. Before I went I to Teen Challenge I visited the nursing home quite often. I saw older/sick individuals. And I heard a couple moaning all the time. I think I got to leave something like this in God's hands and try not to judge a person's conviction about it. Because it isnt always black and white. At the time with my my mom with dementia in pain...it would have been black and white. It was hard when my mom told me her wishes were not to be resuscitated if something were to happen.

 

[Windmill Charge]

It takes very little time around incapacitated people in, for instance, a Hospice nursing home, to see our self-serving vanity of thinking we are doing someone a favor by forcing them to live extended years of a life of misery.

The intention of hospices is not to cure but to treat the pain and symptoms and by so doing to try and give periods of quality time for the patient and family.
There are veey big problems with euthanasia, the biggest being acceptance as normal.
In Belgum children are allowed to opt for euthanasia because they are depressed.
Then there is the horror of cost. It is far cheaper to kill a patient rather than treat them.

Hard cases always make bad laws.

 

[Mayflower]

The intention of hospices is not to cure but to treat the pain and symptoms and by so doing to try and give periods of quality time for the patient and family.
There are veey big problems with euthanasia, the biggest being acceptance as normal.
In Belgum children are allowed to opt for euthanasia because they are depressed.
Then there is the horror of cost. It is far cheaper to kill a patient rather than treat them.

Hard cases always make bad laws.

Now THIS is the fear. And when government can start deciding for someone.

 

[tzcho2]

This bill was approved in Maryland. In the United States!!!! This is APALLING. The Bible says, "Thou shalt not Kill." Sickening.

It is a sad step in the wrong direction. I would have to confer with the authority of the Bible that life is precious & God's command thou shalt not commit murder.

 

[tzcho2]

I refused blood pressure pills for so long...it would get sky high! Scary, but I wanted to "please God" by not taking any medication.

Then one day my adult married daughter said to me.. " Well thanks a lot mum, so you are 'proving your point' by not taking meds to stop youWh having a heart attack or stroke...but what about me...?
If you stroke , but DON'T die, but you are left sitting in a wheelchair, drooling, with half a brain...it is ME who will have to visit you daily, and spoon gruel into you etc etc...stop being so selfish and take pills!!

Why would not taking your medication please God??

 

[tzcho2]

Now THIS is the fear. And when government can start deciding for someone.

That will be the future when the socialism/communism takes over , with socialized medicine, death panels like in Belgium.

 

[Mayflower]

That will be the future when the socialism/communism takes over , with socialized medicine, death panels like in Belgium.

I don't know what death panels are...but rules are definitely abused...it is as if one way or another people suffer. Come quickly Lord Jesus.

 

[tzcho2]

Thank you for sharing. This is very heart wrenching and I have been hurting inside on this subject today. Mainly thinking of my mom. That was a very hard time when we found out she only had like10% of her heart working. She asked the doctor to put her to sleep and the doctor sort of chuckled and said he couldnt do that . But that stuck with me. She got better, even gained some of her heart back. But sometimes I wonder if she did really want to live all those years in a nursing home. Because my older sister ended up visiting her once a week, but I was recovering in in patient programs with my own inner demons. It very much hurts to think my mom spent all that time wanting to die.
And I dont know if it would have hurt more if she were able to take her life or not.
But I understand there are two sides to everything. And your experience has opened my eyes more to why people believe physician induced suicide would be acceptable.
I guess you cant regret a decision when you are dead, but I've dealt with depression all my life. Ive had times I wanted to take my life .And if I got a terminal illness, Id probably feel the same way.
The line is decisions based on feelings and when it is really mercy to let a prson die. That is a very hard decision to put on someone in a lot of pain.

My heart hurts about it. I think more about my mom and those suffering in nursing homes. Before I went I to Teen Challenge I visited the nursing home quite often. I saw older/sick individuals. And I heard a couple moaning all the time. I think I got to leave something like this in God's hands and try not to judge a person's conviction about it. Because it isnt always black and white. At the time with my my mom with dementia in pain...it would have been black and white. It was hard when my mom told me her wishes were not to be resuscitated if something were to happen.

Personally, I think it is up to God when it is our time not humans to decide. The medical profession has lots of tools at their disposal and can provide drugs that help alleviate any pain people are having on a physical level , there are counsellors trained in end of life issues , and most importantly the fervent prayers of loved ones can do much to aid the person. Sometimes it is in the last hours that a person reaches out to God & can be saved. Even when a person is sleeping I believe we can pray that they will reach out to GOD for forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus Christ.

 

[Mayflower]

Good discussion. I'm going somewhere else now. This is depressing. But I just got so angry. I understand both sides. I do lean more towards no physician assisted, just because of this power coming into the wrong hands. But this is why I feel the matter of life and death should be left in God's hands. One day this pain and suffering will be a thing of the past. But I really do pray to not have to experience a sort of suffering like that.

 

[tzcho2]

I don't know what death panels are...but rules are definitely abused...it is as if one way or another people suffer. Come quickly Lord Jesus.

My mother suffered when she died. It was not an easy death, but I was by her side talking to her , stroking her face and I know that only days before she had repented of her sins and asked the Lord Jesus to save her by His death on the cross. For me it was difficult much like a labor but it was the death of her body and her soul leaving it. I was blessed to be with her, as difficult as it was and I was in prayer the whole time, feeling the Lord & heaven's presence.

 

[Mayflower]

I really do appreciate the input on both sides though. It isn't often I get so passionate about a topic I want to knock people with a different opinion arou d a bit (not really, lol). But it is true. I am blessed to have not had to see much suffering and death. But I know my mom suffered all through her life. The past is the past and my mom passed now and is with God, but I am sure she had many happy moments. If it was available to her, it just hurts to think she would have chosen to...

 

[historyb]

I may be in the minority I believe assisted suicide is just as wrong as abortion. Both are murder, period. Oh and I am not young either

 

[Mayflower]

My mother suffered when she died. It was not an easy death, but I was by her side talking to her , stroking her face and I know that only days before she had repented of her sins and asked the Lord Jesus to save her by His death on the cross. For me it was difficult much like a labor but it was the death of her body and her soul leaving it. I was blessed to be with her, as difficult as it was and I was in prayer the whole time, feeling the Lord & heaven's presence.

I flew down from Indiana and stayed three days in the hospital with my mother. She was delirious and in a lot of pain. Her liver failed, with the heart failure she wasnt eligible for a new liver, and it was very hard. I did stay by her side and had to get back to my husband. We were newly married and it was right before Thanksgiving. My mom passed a week later. I like to hope she was saved. She always talked about God. Back then I was so legalistic and it wasn't enough to believe in Jesus Christ. If you had any doubt of salvation because of something you didn't do...my mom had lots of doubts. And there is a lot she did wrong. She did a lot right too...but my own "black and white" rigid view coupled with how she lived her life...I really wish I was around her more before she died. It was not healthy for me to be around my family then...but I hope to see her in Heaven one day.

 

[Willie T]

I may be in the minority I believe assisted suicide is just as wrong as abortion. Both are murder, period. Oh and I am not young either

You are so much younger than you know. I could still bench press 225 at your age. I can't do 100 today.

 

[Mayflower]

I may be in the minority I believe assisted suicide is just as wrong as abortion. Both are murder, period. Oh and I am not young either

Completely against abortion. These babies don't even have a right to fend for themselves. BAAAA. I got to get off. Or go study scripture or something. It is like all of these issues just all popped up at once. For me, in the past couple years or so it seems. Mainly because I hate politics. But I'm getting involved in Hoosiers for Life, because I feel I need to do something to help.

 

[Mayflower]

You are so much younger than you know. I could still bench press 225 at your age. I can't do 100 today.

I'm 32 which is right in the middle. I used to say 30 and over is old. Now I'm not labeling when is old. Because one day I will be an older age.