Raycom,you don't seem to understand that VE is a choice between two different ways of dying; one with pain and anguish versus one with peace and dignity.

Where is the virtue in dying with pain and suffering if it does not bring about any improvement in human existence?

Look again at the photo of Chantal Sebire in the article by Ian Wood, and imagine the agony she must have been in for hours at a time. I've heard that the pain was like having a dentist drill teeth without any aneasthetic, and it went on for hours at a time. Furthermore, I understand that she was allergic to morphine so palliative care was far from sufficient. The last thing Chantal needed to consider was ethics; all she wanted was to stop the pain.

If you think that God wanted her to suffer like that, then you and your God are both heartless monsters, as was the President of France at the time who refused her plea for a merciful death.

I'm confident that the God I worship does not want us to suffer in such a way, and He has given humanity the means to prevent it!

And therein lies the problem, doesn't it? Everyone has their own idea about the nature of God, arrived at by interpreting the Bible in different ways. There have been many wars caused by differences of theological opinion - the very last thing that God would want!

If democracy was working properly, several states would already have VE. People like you are causing unnecessary suffering. Shame on you!

The current law is inconsistent. It is a crime to assist someone to perform an act (suicide) which itself is not a crime.

Why does it matter to you anyway, whether other people are allowed to get medical help to end horrific suffering? It won't affect you, so stop meddling in other people's affairs.

"So what you mean in effect is doctors assisting patients to commit suicide. That can never be ethical."

What would never be ethical would be requiring any or all doctors to assist patients.

The basis of medical practice interventions is informed patient consent and that should be available for voluntary euthanasia.

Of course it should be obvious that involuntary euthanasia must never be sanctioned.

[And I include in that statement my personal family experience of intensive palliation where the outcome was certain but not the timeline. As NOK I knew with certainty that the person in the bed (amongst other things an ex-missionary) would have begged for euthanasia if so able. The pain-free (not distress-free) eventual death was as dignified as could be hoped and the cost to the community of $200,000 is acknowledged. Thanks for that.]

Yuyitsu, suicide is only a 'sin' in the poisoned pens used by men who wrote and rewrote the bible.
That particular 'sin' has caused no end of angst for poor mentally ill (or not) Christians who want to end their own lives. It is a disgraceful human notion, and not something given to us by any God.

Doctors are required to strive to relieve suffering and not cause harm above all else.
I have no doubt that extreme pain, unrelieved vomiting or diarrhea, or nausea causes harm and suffering, so Doctors should be allowed to provide legal voluntary euthanasia if they wish.

Some already do anyway........

Dear Suse,

That suicide is a sin has nothing to do with the bible as the bible in fact does not condemn it. The reason it is a sin, is that it is usually carried with a selfish motive - otherwise it is not a sin (for example in the case of Tibetan monks who set themselves alight to protest the Chinese invasion).

<<Doctors should be allowed to provide legal voluntary euthanasia if they wish.>>

I am not in favour of making euthanasia legal, only of ceasing to make it illegal. Once no longer illegal, it doesn't matter whether it is carried by people who happen to be doctors or not.

It is a fact of life (no pun intended) that pain and suffering are part of human existence.

If Newspoll were to call a spade a spade, one wonders what the response would be to the question, “Thinking now about voluntary euthanasia, if a very ill patient asks for a lethal dose, should a doctor be allowed to assist the patient to commit suicide?”

It is illogical to claim that the prescribing doctor is doing no harm, when it is premeditated killing of one human being by another, regardless of whether the patient ‘requested’ it.

Just as there is no dignity in suicide, there is no dignity in assisted suicide.

Raycom, there is even less dignity in lying on a bed unable to eat or drink, with unrelieved pain, diarrhea and vomiting.....as does happen in people with some digestive system cancers.

This happens more often than you think, and luckily not all doctors think like you and want to continue condemning some poor sods to a long, agonizing death.

If you don't want euthanasia for yourself, that's fine, but don't assume to decide such a thing for everyone else.