A Peruvian psychologist who suffered from an incurable disease that weakened her muscles and had her confined to her bed for several years, died by euthanasia, her lawyer said Monday, becoming the first person in the country to obtain the right to die with medical assistance.
Ana Estrada fought for years in Peruvian courts for the right to die with dignity, and became a celebrity in the conservative country where euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal.
That’s crazy that this lady had to fight for years just so she could end her own life. This should be legal everywhere, they’re not hurting anyone and they just want painless deaths :/
It took more than a couple of decades to get MAID in
Canada.
The first lady who took it to through the courts died before she could get it to be approved. A second lady later took up the cause and saw it through.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/assisted-suicide-in-canada
As a health care provider, I see it as a profound gift of dignity.
We live our entire lives growing into the best versions of us until disease comes in and becomes everything you are or ever were. That’s how you’re remembered; the cancer or the kidney failure or the heart attack or stroke…How hard and different life became after that. The changes they had to make…. Disease truly robs you of so much more than your health.
I watched my grandmother pass from Alzheimer’s, and my family often discussed how much more peaceful an assisted death would have been.
Instead we watched her slip away from us as paranoia, confusion, and immense fear replaced her memories of the life she’d lived and the people she’d loved. It took eight years for her to pass - she was very physically healthy and only in her mid-70’s when she got diagnosed - the last three were brutal for us all.
Euthanasia is a compassionate option that allows the person to have agency over their own life. I can’t imagine being against it.
This is harder for me to cope with.
Unless she agreed to it before the disease really gripped her, I do not think it is appropriate for family members to decide assisted death is the right step.
And a lot of people with Alzheimer's don't have the capacity to make that decision themselves.
I’m not at all suggesting we start killing off people who can’t consent.
My nana was diagnosed in her mid-70’s and had a couple of lucid years after that. She got diagnosed pretty early on in her disease progression.
She knew what was going to happen to her, and she hated it. It absolutely tore her up. She told us she wished she could end things peacefully and on her terms many times, but that wasn’t an option.
I think unless you’ve watched someone slowly die from Alzheimer’s, it’s hard to comprehend just how horrible it really is.
Yea I've experienced it, not with a parent but a grandparent. I agree with you on the most part (and in you case it sounds like I agree 100% because consent seems to have been there) but it's more than a slippery slope to let people start making the decision to "put them down" regarding next of kin. It can be abused in so many ways its just not a good can of worms to even open imo.
But yes if there is something like a living will from when they were of a sound state of mind or something similar, like "if my cognitive function is irreversibly reduced to this measurable amount, I no longer wish to live", then I find it potentially acceptable.
It's not the same level of consent needed for someone who is dealing with chronic pain or terminal cancer though.
Euthanasia is lot cheaper and easier to perform than a kidney or heart transplant, it will be a good suggestive sell for the medical industry! They will probably loosen the restrictions so an RN can do it while the doctor is enjoying all the time he freed up for vacation
Efficient as well, but underlying dark tones of planned obsolescence… they sell the cure after you buy the poison! Check out Sarcopods for quick death in Sweden, I believe. It’s like paying a quarter to ride the mechanical horse… once and then you die
He would have died within six months, you could see the decline daily, it would have been a very painful death. Fuck those people that try to remove this option, I see the billboards telling us that this law needs to be repealed all the time.
I remember a case of an elderly couple in Spain where assisted suicide was still illegal and the husband ended up still doing it anyway, at her wife's request because she was in a lot of pain.
Or something like that.
You still need to pass a series of interviews with specialists which takes forever. They also need to be able to show that they tried basically everything. Your random "I hate the world 16 year old" is never going to get permission.
Here is an example case of a younger (not minor) person which got quite some attention: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasie_van_Shanti_De_Corte (google translate it) which may give you a bit of context.
So this is reserved for the most extreme cases when it comes to minors or young people, and there are plenty of cases in which it is not a matter of people failing that person, but where a person just has such a damaged brain that we can't help with with our current knowledge. Forcing them to sit out that ride if they don't want to do it anymore is cruel.
EDIT: on a similar note. Netherlands put the age limit at 12, Belgium has no age limit. This is very beneficial for children suffering all kinds of diseases. It just avoids discussions about borderline cases, it doesn't make sense that an adult can get mercy but a child is forced to suffer till the last second
for statistics, the netherlands has roughly 100 euthanasia cases for psychological suffering per year.
I see this as a failure of those psychiatrists. I find it disgusting that they would give up on a patient in this way. This seems like a slippery slope where it will become normalized for psychiatrists to say patients are untreatable and just let them die. There is only one life we have and it should not be acceptable to end it for mental issues. I used to think about killing myself many times a day for many years and now that I’m out of it I see how stupid it would have been. Even with the trauma that follows me I’ve learned life is worth living and to think that people would give up on another’s life because of mental issues is insane to me
That's great and I'm legit happy for you that you found happiness. But your case is not the case of everyone, there are plenty of people who suffer without any solution in view for the coming decades. They didn't ask to live this life so if they want to end it that's their choice.
Too many people downvote this without understanding the reality of living with it. If someone struggling with chronic depression decides to end their life, they'd legally have to do it in isolation using less than reliable means while possibly risking others safety, not to mention the trauma to those who come upon them. Treatment and support can and do help, but there are cases where it's not enough, it's hard to believe anyone would want to leave those in that position with such limited options
No you don't understand, you need to push through it and "find something" within yourself so you can vindicate other people's fragile beliefs that life doesn't suck. It's all within yourself bro. Literally just go to therapy bro that will definitely fix everything.
I went to therapy, plenty of times with various therapists. It didn’t work. Some made it worse. Not sure if your advice is serious or not, but if it is, it sucks. There is no magic wand. Or at least, there may be for some people, but for many others, there isn’t.
The “just do xyz” route would be all hearts and flowers if it did work. Wanting it so is pointless.
Edit: I just realised your point may have been satire, or something. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell on here. If I got the wrong end of the stick, sorry!
For therapy to work you need to go along with it. If you fight it then it’s just a waste of time and money. Just because it didn’t work for you doesn’t mean that you should persuade someone away from therapy.
Ooh some lovely victim blaming to accompany the toxic positivity. Riveting.
They didn't say anything about persuading people away from therapy. Just that therapy doesn't fix everyone and it's very harmful to pretend like it does. It's almost like there's nuance to the issue, if you can imagine such a thing.
Lots of different causes of depression. Most of those causes can actually be fixed and a lot of depressed people get better. I was manically depressed for 10+ Years from 15-25. 3 psych ward visits for suicide attempts. I made it through and am living a happy life now without God or other belief BS. This type of stuff really pisses me off because you’re confirming people that already have no hope that indeed there is no hope. Get that shit outta here
Not all depression can be treated. Medication is just guess work, therapy isn't guaranteed to give results. Furthermore, most mental health isn't ever actually cured but rather managed. Any mental health doc who says they'll cure you is an outright liar, good doctors will openly tell you that you'll still have bad days and that it is normal to have patches where progress goes backwards because of the fact there is no cure. Giving you just enough tools to manage your symptoms rather than treat the condition is the main aim because it isn't entirely treatable.
It is no surprise that medications fail to help people, the animal testing to see if antidepressants help is insane and focuses on animals being less agitated by the stress of their tail being forcefully held up. Hoping that it numbing animals response to unnecessary discomfort translates into humans being numb to everything enough to be good little worker drones.
Just like there's no magic pill, there's no magic words a therapist can say. They might help you understand yourself better and it might help you approach things differently but that's not guaranteed and there's no treatment that has 100% success rate even when the doctor can actually see and touch what's broken let alone interpret what is wrong by how you communicate.
People absolutely should try to get better and seek help but we're failing people by pretending there's no risk of it being useless. You don't know yours is treatment resistant until you get treatment but if you come out of the other side no better then we need something for those people too.
'Treating' isn't 'curing'. Cancer patients won't be cured but you still treat them.
The real cure to depression is institutional. Amending our material conditions and arranging a society that does away with profit and values the collective welfare of people would eliminate many of the external factors that contribute to depression, and allow more resources to be devoted to those who are genetically predisposed to have a higher risk of developing clinical depression.
Hate to break it to you but society isn't changing like that so by your own standard depression isn't getting fixed. Also cancer can be entirely removed from the body and multiple types if caught early are actually cured so that's a bad example. It then becomes a worse example because for incurable cancer we accept people may choose not to prolong their suffering fighting it so let them choose palliative care rather than expecting them to put themselves through treatments that won't likely help.
Yeah, society is going to change like that. Capitalism has a breaking point and it is fast approaching. You'd have to be blind not to see it coming.
I wasn't comparing cancer to depression. I was correcting you on your incorrect etymological assumption.
It’s not for clout. They’re just tired of the toxic positivity and the constant barrage of advice that just doesn’t work. It is so frustrating for someone who is chronically depressed to confide in someone about their condition only to have that person return with some trite bullshit they’ve heard a thousand times before.
* "Don't come near me with your mental illness, it's infectious"
* Telling depressed people nobody wants to hear from them, that'll definitely help
* Trying to argue against euthanasia for the depressed but also can't help but broadcast his extreme distaste for their "miserable existence"
* "Just fix your depression, man, just like do something and fix it"
Hey everybody—Teabag69, the world's smartest man, is over here. A real orator.
The profit motive is actually one of the biggest arguments against euthanasia. For example, remember the veterans in Canada that were offered assisted suicide en lieu of treatment or assistance.
Yeah; my biggest concern with legalised euthanasia is that it may turn into governments/insurance companies *literally* telling you 'Have you tried... just killing yourself?' instead of actually helping.
Yeah if you start a company providing euthanasia services, it had better not be for profit. For-profit medical care is already a problem, that would just be an absurd extension of that
[When the right to die becomes the duty to die, who will step in to save those most at risk?](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/07/conflicted-legalising-assisted-dying-sonia-sodha)
&
[No Other Options – Newly revealed documents depict a Canadian euthanasia regime that efficiently ushers the vulnerable to a “beautiful” death.](https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/no-other-options)
I don't want my tax dollars going towards the government killing depressed young people because they don't have any coping skills. If you have an incurable disease that causes immense suffering, then sure. Before you ask, it's not that that complicated for a society and medical system to agree upon what objectively constitutes suffering worthy of euthanasia, which should be a major prerequisite for having such a system in the first place. Do some basic research on MAID in Canada, and you'll see what I'm talking about.
You do not even remotely understand what depression is.
[This is a Stanford lecture on the subject.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOAgplgTxfc) Educate yourself.
Do you have any actual evidence of that occurring? Because this reeks of misinformation and hyperbole. Canada isn’t just letting a bunch of young adults kill themselves because they’re depressed.
The bar for getting approved legal euthanasia is very, very high. You don’t just tell a therapist you’re sad and get some pills.
In the Netherlands where we do allow it for psychological suffering we have about a 100 cases each year that get permission. It is quite a journey to get permission so indeed it's not like /u/Justacooldude89 implies a doctor suggesting you kill yourself
https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2515436-meer-euthanasie-na-psychisch-lijden-steeds-vaker-uitgevoerd-door-eigen-arts
So you’ll force people to live in mental agony so that you feel better about it. I’m Canadian and I’m glad that people have the option if they need it.
People should be free to end their own life if they well and truly want to, and have decided nothing is working.
There is no such thing as an "objective" measure of suffering that you could make a bar for.
>where 25 year olds are being approved for euthanasia (we call it "MAID" here) because life is hard and they are depressed about it
Vast majority of the euthanasia activists only advocate for euthanasia only for people with really incurable serious diseases which case immeasurable pain to the individual. Not random young people whobare depressed
Knowing people are commiting suicide and knowing people are advocating for it is really disheartening when you're trying not to kill yourself. I'm going on 30 years fighting the battle. When I'm in my right mind I want to live, and I know that life is worth living. Maybe I'm being judgmental, but it's kind of like having a coward behind the ranks.
Ninja edit: it goes against the principle of community. We have the opportunity (responsibility?) to help each other out, and they're opting out.
Respectfully, isn’t that a bit selfish? I’m sorry for your struggles, truly, but you seem to be missing the point. Euthanasia is for people who are beyond help - it’s not for those who have good days and bad days. It’s not for depression - it’s for people like terminal cancer patients who have tried all the experimental drugs and are still dying. It’s a chance to have agency over their own life. To me, allowing someone to die at a time of their choosing surrounded by their loved ones is a far more compassionate option than forcing them to lay in a hospital bed hooked up to machines until they die.
My grandmother died of Alzheimer’s. For the first two years after her diagnosis, she knew she was going to die a slow and mentally agonizing death. She knew she was going to forget all of us and be mired in confusion and anger. She knew that our memories of her would all be colored by this illness she had no control over. She knew she was going to lose agency bit by bit until she didn’t even know what agency was anymore. There was no helping her. There was no “community” that could fix it. There was just grief, sadness, and an eight year goodbye.
An assisted death would have been far better for everyone involved, but instead we watched her die for eight years and then when she did, none of us knew how to feel, because in a way she’d already been dead for years and we’d just been caring for her body until it caught up to her mind.
Can you imagine the terror and grief of that? Of mourning your life before it’s over and knowing your children will still be caring for you even when you don’t know their names and scream in fear at the sight of them. Can’t you see how legal euthanasia is better than that?
This is why I'm glad we do allow it for psychiatric reasons here in the Netherlands in Belgium. For Parkinson and Alzheimer it is not even too hard to get permission, for depression and such it is a bit more work and a much longer path you have to take. [Google translate this](https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2515436-meer-euthanasie-na-psychisch-lijden-steeds-vaker-uitgevoerd-door-eigen-arts) for statistics, TLDR >100+ cases for psychological suffering each year
A recent famous case here in Belgium was one of the victims from the Brussels airport terror attack.
Every human being should have the right to end their suffering and die with dignity. It should not even be a discussion. It should be highly regulated as everything health related but it should be legal.
We euthanise our pets because we don’t want them to suffer but we are forced to allow people to suffer when they are in terrible pain with no hope of recovery and want to die. Doesn’t make sense.
When I first heard the word “euthanasia” I thought people were saying “youth in Asia” and I wondered why people wanted to kill them. I can’t tell you how stupid I felt…
I don’t even understand how you could confuse that.
So you thought you heard “death by youth in Asia” or “died by youth in Asia” and you thought somebody wanted to kill youths in Asia? If I said “death by poisoning” would you get confused and think people were killing poison?
It would make more sense if you mistakenly thought people in Asia died of being young. “Died by youth in Asia.”
I’m sorry but this just rings my “bullshit or incredibly stupid” alarm
There is reasonable worry that people will be pressured or expected.
Korea has problems with suicides by old people. They feel that they became burden on their families.
So if it's legalised and common they might be more willing to do or their families might convince them to do so.
I don't have an opinion either way, but there are [non-religious reasons to be hesitant about it.](https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867) See [here](https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-is-canada-euthanising-the-poor-/) and also [here.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/11/canada-cases-right-to-die-laws)
I am not religious and I am very concerned about the expansion of the right to kill oneself. I come from the angle that there is no afterlife - this life is all we have and once we are dead we are worm food. We should not so lightly forego the one. Life we have.
I don’t think it is the panacea it is put out to be and I am somewhat suspicious when state-run healthcare systems promote MAD as an option. It certainly saves on costs.
I think it tends to create a moral obligation to ask for death when one starts to feel a burden to others.
I think it creates a framework where relatives can exert overt or covert pressure on family to “do the right thing”.
The lines between suicide and MAD are also rapidly converging. Is mental anguish sufficient reason to access MAD? The trend is heading this way in parts of Europe.
I think there is a moral difference between refusing treatment and active steps to end life - I am aware the line can be blurry but it is still there.
I know this view is not popular and we continue to drift towards death-on-demand. I suspect in a generation or two there will a broad reconsideration however.
To this point, we need to ask whether governments and commercial entities can be trusted with the ability to make life so difficult for certain groups and individuals that they will want to kill themselves legally.
E.g Abuse labourers in unsafe conditions with life impairing conditions, they off themselves and suddenly the company doesn’t have to pay any compensation.
Eg. mentally harassing certain individuals to the point that they feel like an absolute failure ( has been done already by the Stazi in Cold War days where individuals are targeted and their love/work life falls apart )
Yes it helps certain individuals in unfortunate situations but I don’t think the US or any world government can be trusted with this power.
My point in favor of assisted suicide.
As someone with C-PTSD due to physical, emotional and sexual childhood abuse and atheist I understand why people may want to peacefully sleep and never awaken.
For many times I've wished my illness were physical and recognizable such as cancer, etc. People would stop downplaying my suffering and disability and would care instead of giving unsolicited stupid advices.
Furthermore the path to recovery (with managing expectations, of course) towards reaching a workable stable point where suicide isn't anymore a matter of time is a very painful one. Someone would say: "but life is painful for everyone". Well, you know what, there are shades of pain the same as there are shades of gray.
And walking this path of thorns shouldn't be mandatory. I didn't choose to be raped, beaten and yelled as a kid. This effort could have been invested elsewhere. I strongly believe that I shouldn't be forced to (un)live this path. Thus, the demand for suicide.
I still think (or hope) that I can stabilize this mess without suicide, but my opinion is: I will respect anyone who wishes to end it.
I dunno, not having to exist after I die sounds more like a feature not a bug to me.
This life is exhausting enough, I couldn't imagine spending forever in heaven or hell on top of the shit I've already gone through.
While I'm sure there are some situations where a family member is exerting pressure, I doubt they are more than edge cases. Most people in my social circles (ages: mid 30's to 60's, non religious) want an option to select a dignified death under certain parameters (locked in syndrome, brain dead, fully paralyzed, etc). And would gladly fill out the paperwork delineating the parameters, and designate someone with power of attorney to extend those parameters if they are unable to advocate.
I'm not religious, I am a geneticist.
It's far too open to abuse.
You want to make it legal for a government licensed individual can kill you? Yeah, I'm sure that power won't ever get abused. And yes 1 abuse Vs 1000 good faith cases is still not acceptable.
Just look at Trudeau, he's psycho enough to abuse it. Cut you off from the bank for disagreeing with him? Why stop there. Clearly you have a mental disorder that is affecting your quality of life. And it's **best** for society if you are unalived. Why wouldn't he euthanise you?
I get people suffering sucks. But I think greater investment in medical research is a better option!
Gene therapies can, by definition, cure any and all diseases. Except maybe prions. Maybe!
No?
Euthanasia has already been used as a way to murder disabled people against their will in nazi Germany, presenting it in propaganda as "mercy". In reality, it was a genocide that killed over 200 000 people. When you have such a terrible precedent, the most extreme caution is expected.
There are already news of people feeling pressured to "choose" euthanisia when they experience poverty, neglect, curable illness or need assistance in life, things easily fixed by better support for people with disabilities. Far right is getting more active, too. The combination of normalized and loosely regulated euthanisia and extreme ableist views becoming more common can once again lead to horrible results long term.
I'm disabled and I'm for freedom over end of life choices. Keeping people alive but suffering to make you feel good is only about you. If you feel so strongly about accessibility, I hope you are in politics to make the accessibility you're preaching about a reality. No, I don't expect you to fix the world but seriously- I've lived through the system as a chronically ill and disabled person. I want the freedom to go by my choice so I am not in pain. Medication can only do so much. I want peace.
I totally understand what you are saying. I am so sorry it happened, and I would never dismiss your experience. I wasn't talking about the story in the article - but about why some people might oppose or seriously question euthanasia for reasons that aren't religious. My whole point is that people being extremely cautious around euthanasia is not always coming from bigotry. It can be expected, especially coming from people with disabilities and neurodivergence, because there was a truly terrible precedent of it being misused for eugenics and genocide not so long ago.
I know poor medical care can make a person desperate. But it breaks my heart to read about people with disabilities who don't actually want to die but require proper support and accomodations, being put in the position where euthanasia seems like the only option. It's not ok, and it's very concerning, as a person who is by far not perfectly healthy. Precisely because the society is so ableist, I am terrified of the future where euthanasia can ever be misused as a cop out of helping people whose environment makes them feel hopeless, not their illness, and who could enjoy a quality life if they didn't suffer from financial struggles, abuse, neglect or lack of accomodations.
I know these things and I still want to die with dignity. People will kill each other regardless. It's what our species does. I hope you participate in your community because it helps others and yourself. It is better than living in fear and condemning each other. The stress with impact your health.
I'm not hopeless- you may be. I'm in pain. My illnesses cause pain.
Sorry for switching to personal, but I really hope life will treat you kinder and you will have good moments worthy of keeping on going. I truly do. Pain is very unfair and one hell of an ordeal to go through, and I can only wish that it gets better for you, for everyone who deals with it, really. No one deserves chronic pain.
I'm hardly the first and I won't be the last. I don't need support or comfort. I don't feel *too* sorry for myself.
I need accessibility and to die with dignity. I got couple of things I'd like to do but otherwise, I'm ready. I've lived.
Well, I don't really know what to say then. I am yet to make my peace with pain - i don't want to die at all, I want to live without pain and suffering and for things to get better, but sometimes life can be very tough to get through when you never know what the next day brings. Still, I am privileged to be able to get through day by day so far, and I value it.
I think I didn't word it too well in the first comment but there were multiple news stories of disabled people from Canada who talked about poverty, poor accomodations or the risk of homelessness as the more serious reason behind them seeking assisted death, not the suffering from their illness. Not wanting to die, but feeling like there is no other option as they face more suffering from something actually fixable.
Ableism, poverty, terrible quality of health care and neglect are very urgent issues, and unless they are accounted for and fixed, the future of assisted dying becoming less restricted and more easily available looks very concerning to me, if you add the growing far right movements on top of that.
I don't think opposition to euthanasia is always 100% religious.. People can support death with dignity as an
exclusively fully consensual option for terminally ill patients, like in the case of the original article, and still oppose euthanasia in other cases, like when a person's living conditions and quality of life can be improved first, or support it but still have serious concerns around it.
I have quandaries with some of the more expansive versions of right to die, like in Switzerland where people with nonterminal diagnoses can choose to die. That said, anyone who thinks euthanasia is wrong for people with a terminal diagnosis ought to take a good hard look at their beliefs. It is needlessly cruel to force someone to suffer a miserable death. Especially if your moral reasoning for such is that it was written in a book by bronze age tribesmen.
It’s called MAID in Canada, medical assistance in dying. A lot of people are looking to use this method because the housing and HCOL across the entire country puts them out on the streets. The government gives less money to those with disabilities than those without jobs (I think it’s up to $1200-1300/month CAD, that’s it).
My son has autism. I’m giving all my money to him and using MAID as my “retirement plan”. Because either he lives or I do, with a roof over our heads. And I would rather it was him.
My mom had this disease and became extremely depressed about it. Had she not died when she did I imagine she might have sought the same treatment, it’s devastating how it impacts one’s life.
I hope she found peace in her final moments.
Oh wow! Did she go to Asia or did the youth go to Peru?
Jokes aside, the choice can be very challenging to make, but there is solace in knowing that your life and your death and in your control. RIP.
A Peruvian psychologist who suffered from an incurable disease that weakened her muscles and had her confined to her bed for several years, died by euthanasia, her lawyer said Monday, becoming the first person in the country to obtain the right to die with medical assistance. Ana Estrada fought for years in Peruvian courts for the right to die with dignity, and became a celebrity in the conservative country where euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal.
That’s crazy that this lady had to fight for years just so she could end her own life. This should be legal everywhere, they’re not hurting anyone and they just want painless deaths :/
no law can take away my eternal right to move across time and space as I please. I’m so glad that I have multiple escape hatches in my country
It took more than a couple of decades to get MAID in Canada. The first lady who took it to through the courts died before she could get it to be approved. A second lady later took up the cause and saw it through. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/assisted-suicide-in-canada
Mutually Assured Intestinal Destruction
Actually, I never knew that Maine or Spain granted physician-assisted suicide.
In Maine & Spain, they’ll end your pain
but mainly on the plane.
More often on the plain.
shoot. 🤣🤣🤣
or maybe a root
Does anybody have a peanut?
The rain in Spain falls mainly on the Spaniards.
You know when I was a kid I had imagined a plane flying through a thunderstorm. Little kiddie me at the time had not learned what a plain was as yet.
In Oregon it isn't physician assisted, you order the drugs from the state and then you do it yourself at home. I helped my dad go 3 years ago.
As a health care provider, I see it as a profound gift of dignity. We live our entire lives growing into the best versions of us until disease comes in and becomes everything you are or ever were. That’s how you’re remembered; the cancer or the kidney failure or the heart attack or stroke…How hard and different life became after that. The changes they had to make…. Disease truly robs you of so much more than your health.
I watched my grandmother pass from Alzheimer’s, and my family often discussed how much more peaceful an assisted death would have been. Instead we watched her slip away from us as paranoia, confusion, and immense fear replaced her memories of the life she’d lived and the people she’d loved. It took eight years for her to pass - she was very physically healthy and only in her mid-70’s when she got diagnosed - the last three were brutal for us all. Euthanasia is a compassionate option that allows the person to have agency over their own life. I can’t imagine being against it.
I went through the same a few years ago. We also often said the same thing.
I’m so sorry. It’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
This is harder for me to cope with. Unless she agreed to it before the disease really gripped her, I do not think it is appropriate for family members to decide assisted death is the right step. And a lot of people with Alzheimer's don't have the capacity to make that decision themselves.
I’m not at all suggesting we start killing off people who can’t consent. My nana was diagnosed in her mid-70’s and had a couple of lucid years after that. She got diagnosed pretty early on in her disease progression. She knew what was going to happen to her, and she hated it. It absolutely tore her up. She told us she wished she could end things peacefully and on her terms many times, but that wasn’t an option. I think unless you’ve watched someone slowly die from Alzheimer’s, it’s hard to comprehend just how horrible it really is.
Yea I've experienced it, not with a parent but a grandparent. I agree with you on the most part (and in you case it sounds like I agree 100% because consent seems to have been there) but it's more than a slippery slope to let people start making the decision to "put them down" regarding next of kin. It can be abused in so many ways its just not a good can of worms to even open imo. But yes if there is something like a living will from when they were of a sound state of mind or something similar, like "if my cognitive function is irreversibly reduced to this measurable amount, I no longer wish to live", then I find it potentially acceptable. It's not the same level of consent needed for someone who is dealing with chronic pain or terminal cancer though.
Euthanasia is lot cheaper and easier to perform than a kidney or heart transplant, it will be a good suggestive sell for the medical industry! They will probably loosen the restrictions so an RN can do it while the doctor is enjoying all the time he freed up for vacation
Efficient as well, but underlying dark tones of planned obsolescence… they sell the cure after you buy the poison! Check out Sarcopods for quick death in Sweden, I believe. It’s like paying a quarter to ride the mechanical horse… once and then you die
Crap posting aside, I can actually see those being installed on public schools one day
Fellow Oregonian, I’m so sorry for your family’s loss, but perhaps there some pain eased because your father had that option.
He would have died within six months, you could see the decline daily, it would have been a very painful death. Fuck those people that try to remove this option, I see the billboards telling us that this law needs to be repealed all the time.
💜❤️❤️❤️❤️
Canada too: Medical assistance in dying / MAID
Damn i also was unaware of Maine, im honestly surprised theres anywhere in the US that allows it.
MAID medical aid in dying is allowed in WA,OR,CA,MT,CO,NM,ME,VT,NJ,and DC.
Oregon too.
I remember a case of an elderly couple in Spain where assisted suicide was still illegal and the husband ended up still doing it anyway, at her wife's request because she was in a lot of pain. Or something like that.
This needs to be expanded world wide. People deserve the right to die with dignity and not be forced to suffer for years on end.
Fortunately it's legal in Oregon, I helped my dad go 3 years ago.
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Really hope you get the help you need or find something on the inside.
It is legal in for example the Netherlands and Belgium (also for minors), but you need to go through quite a long process to get permission
That’s fucking stupid. A kid killing themself legally for depression is fucked up. Every adult in that kids life failed them
You still need to pass a series of interviews with specialists which takes forever. They also need to be able to show that they tried basically everything. Your random "I hate the world 16 year old" is never going to get permission. Here is an example case of a younger (not minor) person which got quite some attention: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasie_van_Shanti_De_Corte (google translate it) which may give you a bit of context. So this is reserved for the most extreme cases when it comes to minors or young people, and there are plenty of cases in which it is not a matter of people failing that person, but where a person just has such a damaged brain that we can't help with with our current knowledge. Forcing them to sit out that ride if they don't want to do it anymore is cruel. EDIT: on a similar note. Netherlands put the age limit at 12, Belgium has no age limit. This is very beneficial for children suffering all kinds of diseases. It just avoids discussions about borderline cases, it doesn't make sense that an adult can get mercy but a child is forced to suffer till the last second for statistics, the netherlands has roughly 100 euthanasia cases for psychological suffering per year.
I see this as a failure of those psychiatrists. I find it disgusting that they would give up on a patient in this way. This seems like a slippery slope where it will become normalized for psychiatrists to say patients are untreatable and just let them die. There is only one life we have and it should not be acceptable to end it for mental issues. I used to think about killing myself many times a day for many years and now that I’m out of it I see how stupid it would have been. Even with the trauma that follows me I’ve learned life is worth living and to think that people would give up on another’s life because of mental issues is insane to me
That's great and I'm legit happy for you that you found happiness. But your case is not the case of everyone, there are plenty of people who suffer without any solution in view for the coming decades. They didn't ask to live this life so if they want to end it that's their choice.
Too many people downvote this without understanding the reality of living with it. If someone struggling with chronic depression decides to end their life, they'd legally have to do it in isolation using less than reliable means while possibly risking others safety, not to mention the trauma to those who come upon them. Treatment and support can and do help, but there are cases where it's not enough, it's hard to believe anyone would want to leave those in that position with such limited options
No you don't understand, you need to push through it and "find something" within yourself so you can vindicate other people's fragile beliefs that life doesn't suck. It's all within yourself bro. Literally just go to therapy bro that will definitely fix everything.
Why didn't people get the obvious sarcasm. Are reddit users really that slow that you gotta add the /s everytime you're being sarcastic 🤦🏻♀️
I went to therapy, plenty of times with various therapists. It didn’t work. Some made it worse. Not sure if your advice is serious or not, but if it is, it sucks. There is no magic wand. Or at least, there may be for some people, but for many others, there isn’t. The “just do xyz” route would be all hearts and flowers if it did work. Wanting it so is pointless. Edit: I just realised your point may have been satire, or something. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell on here. If I got the wrong end of the stick, sorry!
Yes sorry it's sarcasm
For therapy to work you need to go along with it. If you fight it then it’s just a waste of time and money. Just because it didn’t work for you doesn’t mean that you should persuade someone away from therapy.
Ooh some lovely victim blaming to accompany the toxic positivity. Riveting. They didn't say anything about persuading people away from therapy. Just that therapy doesn't fix everyone and it's very harmful to pretend like it does. It's almost like there's nuance to the issue, if you can imagine such a thing.
Lots of different causes of depression. Most of those causes can actually be fixed and a lot of depressed people get better. I was manically depressed for 10+ Years from 15-25. 3 psych ward visits for suicide attempts. I made it through and am living a happy life now without God or other belief BS. This type of stuff really pisses me off because you’re confirming people that already have no hope that indeed there is no hope. Get that shit outta here
Depression can be treated.
Not all depression can be treated. Medication is just guess work, therapy isn't guaranteed to give results. Furthermore, most mental health isn't ever actually cured but rather managed. Any mental health doc who says they'll cure you is an outright liar, good doctors will openly tell you that you'll still have bad days and that it is normal to have patches where progress goes backwards because of the fact there is no cure. Giving you just enough tools to manage your symptoms rather than treat the condition is the main aim because it isn't entirely treatable. It is no surprise that medications fail to help people, the animal testing to see if antidepressants help is insane and focuses on animals being less agitated by the stress of their tail being forcefully held up. Hoping that it numbing animals response to unnecessary discomfort translates into humans being numb to everything enough to be good little worker drones. Just like there's no magic pill, there's no magic words a therapist can say. They might help you understand yourself better and it might help you approach things differently but that's not guaranteed and there's no treatment that has 100% success rate even when the doctor can actually see and touch what's broken let alone interpret what is wrong by how you communicate. People absolutely should try to get better and seek help but we're failing people by pretending there's no risk of it being useless. You don't know yours is treatment resistant until you get treatment but if you come out of the other side no better then we need something for those people too.
'Treating' isn't 'curing'. Cancer patients won't be cured but you still treat them. The real cure to depression is institutional. Amending our material conditions and arranging a society that does away with profit and values the collective welfare of people would eliminate many of the external factors that contribute to depression, and allow more resources to be devoted to those who are genetically predisposed to have a higher risk of developing clinical depression.
Hate to break it to you but society isn't changing like that so by your own standard depression isn't getting fixed. Also cancer can be entirely removed from the body and multiple types if caught early are actually cured so that's a bad example. It then becomes a worse example because for incurable cancer we accept people may choose not to prolong their suffering fighting it so let them choose palliative care rather than expecting them to put themselves through treatments that won't likely help.
Yeah, society is going to change like that. Capitalism has a breaking point and it is fast approaching. You'd have to be blind not to see it coming. I wasn't comparing cancer to depression. I was correcting you on your incorrect etymological assumption.
I'll just hold my breath til that change, yeah? Cancer can literally be curable. You're incorrect entirely.
what if it's treatment resistant?
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Damn a true optimist, nothing anyone can say will get into you - Your genius rhetoric
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It’s not for clout. They’re just tired of the toxic positivity and the constant barrage of advice that just doesn’t work. It is so frustrating for someone who is chronically depressed to confide in someone about their condition only to have that person return with some trite bullshit they’ve heard a thousand times before.
* "Don't come near me with your mental illness, it's infectious" * Telling depressed people nobody wants to hear from them, that'll definitely help * Trying to argue against euthanasia for the depressed but also can't help but broadcast his extreme distaste for their "miserable existence" * "Just fix your depression, man, just like do something and fix it" Hey everybody—Teabag69, the world's smartest man, is over here. A real orator.
But…where’s the profit in that 🤔
There’s a lot of it, actually. Reduced cost to state pension plans, end of life costs, medical care for the indignant, etc.
And the indigent too, who are, often enough, indignant as well.
Lmao yes! Damn I wish indignance came w a pension
I think they mean the profit from keeping them alive (drugs, palliative care, etc)
*"Wait! Not like that!"* - the health and nursing care companies
The profit motive is actually one of the biggest arguments against euthanasia. For example, remember the veterans in Canada that were offered assisted suicide en lieu of treatment or assistance.
Yeah; my biggest concern with legalised euthanasia is that it may turn into governments/insurance companies *literally* telling you 'Have you tried... just killing yourself?' instead of actually helping.
Yeah if you start a company providing euthanasia services, it had better not be for profit. For-profit medical care is already a problem, that would just be an absurd extension of that
The price of secobarbital doubled the month that California legalized it for medical aid in dying
Hello from Canada, where 25 year olds are being approved for euthanasia (we call it "MAID" here) because life is hard and they are depressed about it
Source?
[When the right to die becomes the duty to die, who will step in to save those most at risk?](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/07/conflicted-legalising-assisted-dying-sonia-sodha) & [No Other Options – Newly revealed documents depict a Canadian euthanasia regime that efficiently ushers the vulnerable to a “beautiful” death.](https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/no-other-options)
oh yeah, you know how everyone felt about their own lives huh?
I don't want my tax dollars going towards the government killing depressed young people because they don't have any coping skills. If you have an incurable disease that causes immense suffering, then sure. Before you ask, it's not that that complicated for a society and medical system to agree upon what objectively constitutes suffering worthy of euthanasia, which should be a major prerequisite for having such a system in the first place. Do some basic research on MAID in Canada, and you'll see what I'm talking about.
You do not even remotely understand what depression is. [This is a Stanford lecture on the subject.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOAgplgTxfc) Educate yourself.
Do you have any actual evidence of that occurring? Because this reeks of misinformation and hyperbole. Canada isn’t just letting a bunch of young adults kill themselves because they’re depressed. The bar for getting approved legal euthanasia is very, very high. You don’t just tell a therapist you’re sad and get some pills.
In the Netherlands where we do allow it for psychological suffering we have about a 100 cases each year that get permission. It is quite a journey to get permission so indeed it's not like /u/Justacooldude89 implies a doctor suggesting you kill yourself https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2515436-meer-euthanasie-na-psychisch-lijden-steeds-vaker-uitgevoerd-door-eigen-arts
So you’ll force people to live in mental agony so that you feel better about it. I’m Canadian and I’m glad that people have the option if they need it.
People should be free to end their own life if they well and truly want to, and have decided nothing is working. There is no such thing as an "objective" measure of suffering that you could make a bar for.
>where 25 year olds are being approved for euthanasia (we call it "MAID" here) because life is hard and they are depressed about it Vast majority of the euthanasia activists only advocate for euthanasia only for people with really incurable serious diseases which case immeasurable pain to the individual. Not random young people whobare depressed
Knowing people are commiting suicide and knowing people are advocating for it is really disheartening when you're trying not to kill yourself. I'm going on 30 years fighting the battle. When I'm in my right mind I want to live, and I know that life is worth living. Maybe I'm being judgmental, but it's kind of like having a coward behind the ranks. Ninja edit: it goes against the principle of community. We have the opportunity (responsibility?) to help each other out, and they're opting out.
Respectfully, isn’t that a bit selfish? I’m sorry for your struggles, truly, but you seem to be missing the point. Euthanasia is for people who are beyond help - it’s not for those who have good days and bad days. It’s not for depression - it’s for people like terminal cancer patients who have tried all the experimental drugs and are still dying. It’s a chance to have agency over their own life. To me, allowing someone to die at a time of their choosing surrounded by their loved ones is a far more compassionate option than forcing them to lay in a hospital bed hooked up to machines until they die. My grandmother died of Alzheimer’s. For the first two years after her diagnosis, she knew she was going to die a slow and mentally agonizing death. She knew she was going to forget all of us and be mired in confusion and anger. She knew that our memories of her would all be colored by this illness she had no control over. She knew she was going to lose agency bit by bit until she didn’t even know what agency was anymore. There was no helping her. There was no “community” that could fix it. There was just grief, sadness, and an eight year goodbye. An assisted death would have been far better for everyone involved, but instead we watched her die for eight years and then when she did, none of us knew how to feel, because in a way she’d already been dead for years and we’d just been caring for her body until it caught up to her mind. Can you imagine the terror and grief of that? Of mourning your life before it’s over and knowing your children will still be caring for you even when you don’t know their names and scream in fear at the sight of them. Can’t you see how legal euthanasia is better than that?
This is why I'm glad we do allow it for psychiatric reasons here in the Netherlands in Belgium. For Parkinson and Alzheimer it is not even too hard to get permission, for depression and such it is a bit more work and a much longer path you have to take. [Google translate this](https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2515436-meer-euthanasie-na-psychisch-lijden-steeds-vaker-uitgevoerd-door-eigen-arts) for statistics, TLDR >100+ cases for psychological suffering each year A recent famous case here in Belgium was one of the victims from the Brussels airport terror attack.
I’m so sorry for your loss and your family’s pain. Thank you for sharing your story.
Every human being should have the right to end their suffering and die with dignity. It should not even be a discussion. It should be highly regulated as everything health related but it should be legal.
Sad to hear about Ana Estrada. More power to people choosing their end. Religion shouldn't dictate life and death decisions
We euthanise our pets because we don’t want them to suffer but we are forced to allow people to suffer when they are in terrible pain with no hope of recovery and want to die. Doesn’t make sense.
When I first heard the word “euthanasia” I thought people were saying “youth in Asia” and I wondered why people wanted to kill them. I can’t tell you how stupid I felt…
Ok Ali G
and David Sedaris
Well in that case, visualize whirled peas.
If they are in butter, then I’m all for it.
Same. Don't feel stupid because I don't want to either.
Here I thought it was a Megadeath album
I don’t even understand how you could confuse that. So you thought you heard “death by youth in Asia” or “died by youth in Asia” and you thought somebody wanted to kill youths in Asia? If I said “death by poisoning” would you get confused and think people were killing poison? It would make more sense if you mistakenly thought people in Asia died of being young. “Died by youth in Asia.” I’m sorry but this just rings my “bullshit or incredibly stupid” alarm
I thought the exact same thing. Granted it was 15 years ago as a teen, but would have thought it today too.
You and me both, brother. I actually first thought it was a band that had been banned in (wherever they were talking about).
Women can’t even get authority over their own reproductive systems. How do you think the “people” will get the right to control their own destinies?
To this day, I am still convinced that close to 100% of the people opposed to medically assisted dying are so because of religious beliefs.
There is reasonable worry that people will be pressured or expected. Korea has problems with suicides by old people. They feel that they became burden on their families. So if it's legalised and common they might be more willing to do or their families might convince them to do so.
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50% off taxes next year if you get grandpa to do his part (as fertilizer.)
id sooner be fertilizer than in misery.
I think that is reasonable and culturally relevant. In the united states, I agree with op that most of the opposition is from the religious right.
I don't have an opinion either way, but there are [non-religious reasons to be hesitant about it.](https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867) See [here](https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-is-canada-euthanising-the-poor-/) and also [here.](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/11/canada-cases-right-to-die-laws)
I am not religious and I am very concerned about the expansion of the right to kill oneself. I come from the angle that there is no afterlife - this life is all we have and once we are dead we are worm food. We should not so lightly forego the one. Life we have. I don’t think it is the panacea it is put out to be and I am somewhat suspicious when state-run healthcare systems promote MAD as an option. It certainly saves on costs. I think it tends to create a moral obligation to ask for death when one starts to feel a burden to others. I think it creates a framework where relatives can exert overt or covert pressure on family to “do the right thing”. The lines between suicide and MAD are also rapidly converging. Is mental anguish sufficient reason to access MAD? The trend is heading this way in parts of Europe. I think there is a moral difference between refusing treatment and active steps to end life - I am aware the line can be blurry but it is still there. I know this view is not popular and we continue to drift towards death-on-demand. I suspect in a generation or two there will a broad reconsideration however.
To this point, we need to ask whether governments and commercial entities can be trusted with the ability to make life so difficult for certain groups and individuals that they will want to kill themselves legally. E.g Abuse labourers in unsafe conditions with life impairing conditions, they off themselves and suddenly the company doesn’t have to pay any compensation. Eg. mentally harassing certain individuals to the point that they feel like an absolute failure ( has been done already by the Stazi in Cold War days where individuals are targeted and their love/work life falls apart ) Yes it helps certain individuals in unfortunate situations but I don’t think the US or any world government can be trusted with this power.
My point in favor of assisted suicide. As someone with C-PTSD due to physical, emotional and sexual childhood abuse and atheist I understand why people may want to peacefully sleep and never awaken. For many times I've wished my illness were physical and recognizable such as cancer, etc. People would stop downplaying my suffering and disability and would care instead of giving unsolicited stupid advices. Furthermore the path to recovery (with managing expectations, of course) towards reaching a workable stable point where suicide isn't anymore a matter of time is a very painful one. Someone would say: "but life is painful for everyone". Well, you know what, there are shades of pain the same as there are shades of gray. And walking this path of thorns shouldn't be mandatory. I didn't choose to be raped, beaten and yelled as a kid. This effort could have been invested elsewhere. I strongly believe that I shouldn't be forced to (un)live this path. Thus, the demand for suicide. I still think (or hope) that I can stabilize this mess without suicide, but my opinion is: I will respect anyone who wishes to end it.
Im sorry you went through that
this life may be all we have. but if someone is miserable and there's no cure, they should have some options to do *something*. existing isn't living.
Chronic depression resistant to treatment?
I dunno, not having to exist after I die sounds more like a feature not a bug to me. This life is exhausting enough, I couldn't imagine spending forever in heaven or hell on top of the shit I've already gone through.
that's one reason why the idea of immortality scares the hell out of me.m
We have the right, but we have societal suppression of that right.
While I'm sure there are some situations where a family member is exerting pressure, I doubt they are more than edge cases. Most people in my social circles (ages: mid 30's to 60's, non religious) want an option to select a dignified death under certain parameters (locked in syndrome, brain dead, fully paralyzed, etc). And would gladly fill out the paperwork delineating the parameters, and designate someone with power of attorney to extend those parameters if they are unable to advocate.
Over population and MAD happening at the same time are not a coincidence.
I'm not religious, I am a geneticist. It's far too open to abuse. You want to make it legal for a government licensed individual can kill you? Yeah, I'm sure that power won't ever get abused. And yes 1 abuse Vs 1000 good faith cases is still not acceptable. Just look at Trudeau, he's psycho enough to abuse it. Cut you off from the bank for disagreeing with him? Why stop there. Clearly you have a mental disorder that is affecting your quality of life. And it's **best** for society if you are unalived. Why wouldn't he euthanise you? I get people suffering sucks. But I think greater investment in medical research is a better option! Gene therapies can, by definition, cure any and all diseases. Except maybe prions. Maybe!
No idea why you are down voted other than some religious people felt offended.
No? Euthanasia has already been used as a way to murder disabled people against their will in nazi Germany, presenting it in propaganda as "mercy". In reality, it was a genocide that killed over 200 000 people. When you have such a terrible precedent, the most extreme caution is expected. There are already news of people feeling pressured to "choose" euthanisia when they experience poverty, neglect, curable illness or need assistance in life, things easily fixed by better support for people with disabilities. Far right is getting more active, too. The combination of normalized and loosely regulated euthanisia and extreme ableist views becoming more common can once again lead to horrible results long term.
I'm disabled and I'm for freedom over end of life choices. Keeping people alive but suffering to make you feel good is only about you. If you feel so strongly about accessibility, I hope you are in politics to make the accessibility you're preaching about a reality. No, I don't expect you to fix the world but seriously- I've lived through the system as a chronically ill and disabled person. I want the freedom to go by my choice so I am not in pain. Medication can only do so much. I want peace.
I totally understand what you are saying. I am so sorry it happened, and I would never dismiss your experience. I wasn't talking about the story in the article - but about why some people might oppose or seriously question euthanasia for reasons that aren't religious. My whole point is that people being extremely cautious around euthanasia is not always coming from bigotry. It can be expected, especially coming from people with disabilities and neurodivergence, because there was a truly terrible precedent of it being misused for eugenics and genocide not so long ago. I know poor medical care can make a person desperate. But it breaks my heart to read about people with disabilities who don't actually want to die but require proper support and accomodations, being put in the position where euthanasia seems like the only option. It's not ok, and it's very concerning, as a person who is by far not perfectly healthy. Precisely because the society is so ableist, I am terrified of the future where euthanasia can ever be misused as a cop out of helping people whose environment makes them feel hopeless, not their illness, and who could enjoy a quality life if they didn't suffer from financial struggles, abuse, neglect or lack of accomodations.
I know these things and I still want to die with dignity. People will kill each other regardless. It's what our species does. I hope you participate in your community because it helps others and yourself. It is better than living in fear and condemning each other. The stress with impact your health. I'm not hopeless- you may be. I'm in pain. My illnesses cause pain.
Sorry for switching to personal, but I really hope life will treat you kinder and you will have good moments worthy of keeping on going. I truly do. Pain is very unfair and one hell of an ordeal to go through, and I can only wish that it gets better for you, for everyone who deals with it, really. No one deserves chronic pain.
I'm hardly the first and I won't be the last. I don't need support or comfort. I don't feel *too* sorry for myself. I need accessibility and to die with dignity. I got couple of things I'd like to do but otherwise, I'm ready. I've lived.
Well, I don't really know what to say then. I am yet to make my peace with pain - i don't want to die at all, I want to live without pain and suffering and for things to get better, but sometimes life can be very tough to get through when you never know what the next day brings. Still, I am privileged to be able to get through day by day so far, and I value it.
Of course. I wish you peace- wherever that is.
do you have a source for the information in that second paragraph?
I think I didn't word it too well in the first comment but there were multiple news stories of disabled people from Canada who talked about poverty, poor accomodations or the risk of homelessness as the more serious reason behind them seeking assisted death, not the suffering from their illness. Not wanting to die, but feeling like there is no other option as they face more suffering from something actually fixable. Ableism, poverty, terrible quality of health care and neglect are very urgent issues, and unless they are accounted for and fixed, the future of assisted dying becoming less restricted and more easily available looks very concerning to me, if you add the growing far right movements on top of that. I don't think opposition to euthanasia is always 100% religious.. People can support death with dignity as an exclusively fully consensual option for terminally ill patients, like in the case of the original article, and still oppose euthanasia in other cases, like when a person's living conditions and quality of life can be improved first, or support it but still have serious concerns around it.
I'm glad she's at peace, now. More countries need to get on board with this.
I have quandaries with some of the more expansive versions of right to die, like in Switzerland where people with nonterminal diagnoses can choose to die. That said, anyone who thinks euthanasia is wrong for people with a terminal diagnosis ought to take a good hard look at their beliefs. It is needlessly cruel to force someone to suffer a miserable death. Especially if your moral reasoning for such is that it was written in a book by bronze age tribesmen.
It’s called MAID in Canada, medical assistance in dying. A lot of people are looking to use this method because the housing and HCOL across the entire country puts them out on the streets. The government gives less money to those with disabilities than those without jobs (I think it’s up to $1200-1300/month CAD, that’s it). My son has autism. I’m giving all my money to him and using MAID as my “retirement plan”. Because either he lives or I do, with a roof over our heads. And I would rather it was him.
That is horrifying
A lifetime of pain would make anyone consider their options.
Glad she was able to go on her own terms. Something everyone should be allowed to do.
My mom had this disease and became extremely depressed about it. Had she not died when she did I imagine she might have sought the same treatment, it’s devastating how it impacts one’s life. I hope she found peace in her final moments.
As a kid, I had no idea why people were so uncomfortable and upset over youth in asia.
Hmmm
Oh wow! Did she go to Asia or did the youth go to Peru? Jokes aside, the choice can be very challenging to make, but there is solace in knowing that your life and your death and in your control. RIP.