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Assisted Dying


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Very controversial subject, I'm totally in favour of it, but can see the obvious limitations of how far the law extends to and where do we draw the line as obviously not every case would be black or white.

ETA: The second poll question is obviously much more personal, but interested to see what the gauge of opinion would be if it was on your shoulders rather than a doctor's.

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There was a woman on TV earlier today who sufferers Motor Neuron Disease who was for assisted dieing but felt that if the law was in place people might opine that ' if she had the option, why didn't she use it?'

This she felt, was an negative aspect to the campaign and an aspect she was not comfortable with.

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Totally in favour of it - only didn't answer the second question for the reason that I wouldn't do anything if whoever hadn't explicitly asked me to or was incapable of doing so.

Had they, unequivocally yes, and I'd like to think someone would step up to the plate on my behalf if it needed doing.

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Totally in favour of it - only didn't answer the second question for the reason that I wouldn't do anything if whoever hadn't explicitly asked me to or was incapable of doing so.

Had they, unequivocally yes, and I'd like to think someone would step up to the plate on my behalf if it needed doing.

Great answer. What he said.

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I can't see any good arguments against it. Only stupid reasons.

The best argument against it is that it would be very difficult to implement.

In principle I am definitely in favour of assisted dying.

However in the last few months I've started to realise the difficulties. The idea that any old person who was starting to require special care would consider this out of guilt is horrible. There are a lot of cretins out there who might be keen to encourage relatives to take this up to avoid the difficult situation of finding appropriate care.

There are so many difficult situations - and putting in place a safe and secure framework which protected vulnerable people would be the key to the whole thing. Whether or not that is possible I'm not so sure. The optimist in me thinks it can be - the cynic in me has real doubts.

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I know it's not really the same, but if a pet cat or dog becomes seriously ill and will be in pain until it dies, we would have said pet taken to the vet and put down. Not a decision to take slightly, but one that will ease a whole lot of suffering.

Humans shouldn't have to wait for nature to take its course either. If I were unfortunate enough to be in dreadful pain and just waiting to die, I'd want it over as soon as possible; the suffering is just incomprehensible. There would have to be safeguards in place to prevent abuse, but I'm in favour.

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I know it's not really the same, but if a pet cat or dog becomes seriously ill and will be in pain until it dies, we would have said pet taken to the vet and put down. Not a decision to take slightly, but one that will ease a whole lot of suffering.

Humans shouldn't have to wait for nature to take its course either. If I were unfortunate enough to be in dreadful pain and just waiting to die, I'd want it over as soon as possible; the suffering is just incomprehensible. There would have to be safeguards in place to prevent abuse, but I'm in favour.

That's the tricky bit.

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That's the tricky bit.

I'm in absolute agreement here. There are a lot of things to take into account, but a proper debate on the issue would be most welcome.

It's very difficult, but could be workable.

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Went for yes and yes but the second yes has caveats, my mother who's 81 this year has gone out of her way to say that she would want 'put down' if she was a burden and I feel the same myself (if I become a burden, not her). I don't know if its easier or harder if you do or don't believe in some 'sky fairy' but I don't and I think when you're gone, you're gone. If I was in pain or a burden to my family due to an accident or old age I wouldn't want to throw the onus onto my family. It really does come down to quality of life though, the burd with motor neurons on TV has her view and I completely respect that, but because it suits her doesn't mean it suits everyone. I hope that if one of my loved ones was in so much pain I'd have the courage to help them.

Just because there's an option to do something doesn't mean people will automatically take it. I'm pretty sure that no-one has gone to jail for 7 years for carrying a knife even though thats the maximum sentence so even judges don't feel that they have to go all or nothing. While I can see the possible abuse of any law we wouldn't change anything because there are always a possible negative outcome to any change. The positives far outweigh the potential negatives as far as I can see, as long as there are balances in place to prevent (or minimise seeing as how there will always be a tiny chance of someone 'beating' the system) abuse of it.

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A thousand times in favour of it.

Mrs Shotgun and I have both agreed to do whatever it takes to help each other if and when the time comes, the law be damned. We don't subscribe to religious superstition so don't feel bound by any hypocritical attitudes to life and death.

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A thousand times in favour of it.

Mrs Shotgun and I have both agreed to do whatever it takes to help each other if and when the time comes, the law be damned. We don't subscribe to religious superstition so don't feel bound by any hypocritical attitudes to life and death.

I've a similar arrangement with Mrs Root, well I say arrangement, she's not aware of it yet and its not restricted to her being traditionally terminally ill, her nagging could be the death of her though I suppose.

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It's a minefield. On the surface, I'm all for it but there's so many things to take into consideration that it becomes a bit murky when you start to look at it all.

Advanced directives are a great idea in principle and saying "when I get to ********* stage, I want to be helped to die" is fine. However, what happens when someone gets to that stage but is too cognitively or physically challenged to say "I'm ready"? Do you ignore the advance directive because they can't confirm their choice or go with it when it's possible that they, at that point, do not want to die or they've changed their mind?

I'd say that yes, people should be able to choose the time at which they die, however, the safeguards I'd like to see would actually make it a fairly uncommon practice.

I'd leave aside the term "assisted dying" and call it "assisted suicide". The individual must be able to choose and state in sound mind that they are ready and that it is their decision. No marbles = no dice. Euthanasia is an absolute no. No one else should be making that decision.

The only reason assistance should be given is that the individual is completely incapable of carrying out the act by themselves. If they are able to, then they should do so. You should never be allowed to ask for assistance if you are capable. No one should be put in that position unnecessarily and no one else should be given the power over whether you live or die.

You should always make your medical professional know that this is your choice and you have made it in sound mind but you should never be asking for their permission to do it. Now, you can't punish people that don't make their choice known in practice but it would ensure that people are protecting those closest to them from the risk of prosecution and it means the individual can get the best advice on what to do next.

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I'm in favour it assisted suicide but with very strict control measures......i.e: each case to be heard on their own merits and only in the highest Court in the land, no precedents set, 3-5no independently appointed Doctors to review the case and give Professional opinion on likelyhood of suffering/recovery etc to name a few measures.

I understand the reluctance by Doctors and the authorities to go down this route but it can't be denied that we show more compassion and dignity to a dying pet than we do fellow humans.

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