Thanks for the links david f.

This is probably the single most superficial article on euthanasia and abortion I have seen in a long time.

Abortion is about the right of the mother to decide what happens to her body. The rights of the fetus cannot over ride this.

Similarly, with euthanasia if a person no longer wishes to live, he/she should have the right to die legally. Any difficulties can easily be resolved by a suitably qualified review panel. The person can then pass away with dignity.

The obvious and frequent scenario where the victim is so incapacitated as to be unable to self administer seems to have eluded this author.

Either he thinks we are morons or this is simply an inflammatory thread.

Shadow Minister,

<<The obvious and frequent scenario where the victim is so incapacitated as to be unable to self administer seems to have eluded this author.>>

So that rules out advanced Alzheimer's etc. You're right, the right to take a life hinges solely on the autonomy and rights of the individual involved. If somebody is so far gone that they can't make informed judgments, then - apart from turning the machines off - any action by anybody else which leads to their unsanctioned death is either manslaughter or murder.

People in full possession of their faculties should have every right to take their own lives, StevenLMeier, by their own hand, DIY exit: but please don't call it euthanasia, voluntary or otherwise. It's suicide - and even then, counselling should be available. After all, it's your last chance, folks.

Of course we already have a gutless and inhumane form of euthanasia that Rhys Jones would no doubt approve of, euphemistically called "palliative care". My first wife was a vigorous 39 when she died, eventually, under palliative care. She had melanoma and tumours had spread to various organs when it was decided there was no hope of a cure (a no-brainer for my wife, who was a nurse). Rather than a quick, dignified and painless (also for me and our four kids) assisted death, she technically died of dehydration rather than cancer. She was kept in a semi-conscious state with drugs while all food and water was withheld. It took I don't know how many days for her to die; I remember watching the urine in her catheter (there was no need to change it) get darker as time went by until it looked like burnt caramel. I remember waiting endlessly for her to die; watching her vomit blackish bile near the end, and taking shallow breaths that became ever less frequent but somehow more urgent in their exhausted, automated racking. Several times, when I thought she'd taken her last breath, her body would suddenly convulse pathetically once more, and her gaping mouth would desperately suck in air. I think a couple of minutes must have passed before I finally believed she was dead. Only the day before this event, days since she'd last shown any sign of consciousness, I held our one year old daughter in front of her and said, "there's your mummy". To my amazement, mummy's lips simulated distinct little kisses. Thankfully, all the kids to were too young to be traumatised.
The point is, palliative care is euthanasia by neglect, it's a morbid ritual designed to appease the letter of the law. F--- the law, I say!

Thankyou Squeers. How could anyone argue against a dignified chosen exit after reading your family's story.

An incredible amount of suffering is caused by people inflicting their distorted world view on others.

I've had to have a couple of pets put down with great sadness. It was a reassuring experience. I'd like to go with as little fuss and pain as my animals in a gentle, supportive environment, and not fighting for every breath with my family watching on and suffering too, because someone else calls it living.

Unfortunately in this case, animals have more rights than humans, and indeed someone who didn't assist them by having them euthanased, might be prosecuted for cruelty.

Yeah, people are like pets, aren't they, really ? Lose one, get another one. Or writing off a favourite car: claim on insurance and get another one, you get over these things. Not quite, Mr/Ms Deland.

Squeers, I feel very much for you. My wife Maria died about two years ago, from advanced liver cancer. She had three weeks between finding out and saying her last goodbyes. She went much more peacefully, without (this always amazes me) any fear, knowing that it was the absolute end. She was the one who brought up funeral arrangements, who to conduct the service (an old friend who happened to be a Presbyterian minister) even though she was an atheist (more for his piece of mind, I think). In those last three weeks, I think she would have had the equivalent of one meal, so yes, it's starvation and thirst that can cause a lot of stress and weakening. She complained towards the end of not being able to sleep, but we knew that the morphine to ease the pain and let her sleep would also take her. So the nurses gave her the morphine, she went quietly to sleep while we talked to her, and 24 hours later she took her last breath. The big, dreamless sleep.

But would we have wanted to hasten the process ? Not on your life.

Every case is different, I'm certain. But the bottom line is surely the right of the person to make the choices, not relations.

Either way, I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone.

Joe Lane