God won't help, after all, he did nothing to help Jesus.

David

If you think the suicide rate is alarming, compare it with unexplained hospital or in care deaths. Conveniently written off as natural causes? And given a "Doctor's" signature on the death certificate, who may never ever have seen the patient? Usually unquestioned or unchallenged by dumbstruck rallies?

In any of our major hospitals, euthanasia is routine and practised daily as the end and foreseeable consequence of effective pain management?

So, all we need change here is to decriminalize effective compassionate pain management!

Besides, everybody has the right to make a living will, or their end of life, rule in/rule out, care management criteria. That can't ever include, giving any staff member the right to rifle through your belongings, or belt you senseless (on compassionate grounds) when discovered!

I'm also in favor of CCTV in every room or ward, not to exclude non existent privacy for patients, but eliminate the privacy of those who flout our laws, and perpetuate serial elder abuse? All while defending most vigorously, voluntary euthanasia?

The (tip of the iceberg) horror elder abuse stories emanating, particularly it would seem, from private, for profit, aged care, are beyond horrifying, as are the vetting standards of some of our aged care workers and their pious, butter wouldn't melt the mouth, public personas!?

Foxy's mum one of the lucky ones, with a caring daughter, watching her helpless back!

That said, let me say this, in my time I've had the rare privilege and inestimable honour to being cared for by veritable angels, for whom there aren't enough superlatives, which by the way, pertains to most of our overworked and under-rewarded health care workers!

Most of whom cannot be gagged, or are not afraid to say, this is not right, when it isn't!
Alan B.

The fact that many 15 (FIFTEEN) to 44 year olds as a demographic, want to top themselves for psychological (possible family rejection) problems? Is not ammunition for the euthanasia debate; but a cry for help and more funding for woefully underfunded mental health.

And another for the most ignorant folk on the planet, to take an objective look at mounting evidence that fairly shouts from the rooftops, YOU'RE WRONG! A bodies sexual bias is what you are, like left handedness, born with!

The fact that some moribund moron thinks that treatable temporary depression or anxiety neurosis, family estrangement etc/etc, ought to, might be solved with a "permenant solution", just reinforces the slippery slope argument!

What's next? Burying all our human relation problems, rather than manning up and honestly facing them/owning our own behavior in this ever changing, human dimensions, fluid tableau?
Alan B.

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Dear Alan B,

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You wrote :

« In any of our major hospitals, euthanasia is routine and practised daily as the end and foreseeable consequence of effective pain management?

So, all we need change here is to decriminalize effective compassionate pain management! »
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I’m pleased to hear that, Alan. I hope you are right and that it works to the satisfaction of all concerned. It’s a pity, though, that euthanasia remains illegal in Australia and that the medical staff have to break the law and risk prosecution simply for doing their job.

It should be generalised throughout the country to all hospitals, properly organised and strictly controlled in accordance with well-established protocols to avoid accidents and abuse.

Unfortunately, that is not going to happen any time soon. A large (albeit, steadily diminishing) majority of Australians continue to feel the need for religion to regulate their lives. A Roy Morgan Research poll in Oct -Dec 2013 indicates that 37.6% of Australians declared “no religion” (up from 30% in Jan-Mar 2009). Roughly 60% of Australians still need religion today.

If the current trend continues there is hope that we may be capable of facing reality and putting an end to our manifest judicial hypocrisy sometime during the 2030s.

Perhaps I should add that my definition of “euthanasia” is the literal definition of the word which derives from the Greek eu, “good” and Thanatos, “death”. In other words, euthanasia simply means a “good death”.

At the moment, it seems that all forms of intended and provoked “good deaths” are hypocritically considered desirable, acceptable and, as you say, “practised daily” in our major hospitals - despite the fact that we officially condemn them as being illegal. Whereas we have a totally different attitude to self-inflicted deaths or suicides.

Life and death are two sides of the same coin. If life is a fundamental human right, then death is too. Those of us who wish to end our lives, for whatever reason, should benefit from the same hypocrisy as the others.

In my opinion, there should be no discrimination.

Continued ...

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Continued …

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You then wrote :

« The fact that many 15 (FIFTEEN) to 44 year olds as a demographic, want to top themselves for psychological (possible family rejection) problems .. is … a cry for help and more funding for woefully underfunded mental health »
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Absolutely. And the problem is not getting any better. It’s getting worse !

The least we can do is to offer them a “good death” instead of a horrible, excruciating one, alone with their despair. That would give us the opportunity of showing them some humanity and offering them an alternative which some may be tempted to accept.

If not, we should respect their decision – failing which we would lose all credibility.

That is my carefully considered opinion at the time being, Alan. But it’s an extremely delicate matter and there is no straight forward, easy solution to it.

It’s a matter of life and death and my mind remains open to a more appropriate solution.

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If a 15 year old wants to top themselves? We should help them to ensure it's not a horrible death?

Like say blood spattered all over the nice clean white bathroom tiles, when a distressed, demoralized, disturbed kid, with access to a firearm eats the weapon and blows his brain out, or takes a swan dive from a very high place, to dive head first into rock or pavement? They're just as dead!

And suffering, arguably non existent unless they fluff it.

That's not a solution! And just replaces the tormented suicide, with clinically clean murder!

Well at least there's no smelly mess to clean up afterward!

And underlines as nothing else can, why we need to reject Doctor death and his fatal (rocks off) obsession with topping folks off, indefinitely!
Alan B.