My mother will be under the surgeon's knife for her heart this afternoon at 1.00 PM.

My sister, my mother and I have always agreed that should her health deteriorate to the point where to prolong her life, my mother would be confined to bed hooked up to life-support, that she has a 'no-resuscitate' order. My mother is 83, she has lived a full active life. If the surgery is successful she will have a few further years of a full active life. She wants and is entitled to nothing less.

My mother is fully mentally competent and it is HER CHOICE to die with dignity. Not the government's, not some religious organisation or any other group who wishes to control my mother's life, her choices and her well-being.

The sooner Australia has a well structured euthanasia policy - such as the one in the Netherlands, the better for all people who are now currently suffering, immobilised and merely surviving instead of LIVING

It is really hard to take seriously anyone who "worships" at all. The capacity to worship a supernatural deity does not confer special insights into morality. People who worship just interpret a set of ridiculous and often contradictory ancient exhortations that belong to an era of great ignorance. We should have moved on since then. Like a lot of non-believers, I can't understand the arrogance of a believer in the supernatural telling me how I should die, based solely on what they think their invisible friend tells them. I know the writer of this piece is well-meaning but you really need to critically examine your belief system at the most fundamental level and question whether the strange, obviously human-invented god you believe in actually exists. And in the meantime, let everyone else decide their own fate.

life is shitt
im depressed
but i see no reason for govt to legalise murder

There seems to be a lot of murder going on allready
considering we dont conduct routeene autopsy for EVERY death ,the causes of death presently are whatever the docter supervising dictates

Death by smoking is a typical case in point

19,000 deaths were 'ATTRIBUTAL' to smoking [that dosnt mean they died from smoking [or the affects from smoking ] but that the docter wrote that as the cause of death

Just as likely they died from poor medicine [or the very 'treatment ' the docter was giving] but we dont check on that [we dont do autopsy to find the REAL cause of death] we just accept the docters word upon the death certificate THEY WRITE OUT.

We live under a presumed christian creed [one supposedly respecting life] and while athiests might revel in saying suffering is a christian belief this simply is only the extreem version of a sect, jesus was clear in revealing that we do unto others will be done to us 7 fold ,that you did to the least you did to god.

We live in the time of lies ,in a time where govt persicutes upon victimless crime ,passing rules allowing it to lie to us ,theft and oppressing its OWN people because of a plant [not a drug,while the truelly evil people get away with legal murder ,where a plant that can cure deppresion as well as cancer is declared war upon ,

While the silent multi-national owned media gives us its yearly promise of a future cure for these problems while it vilifies the only god given cure [gen 1;29 ,i give you every seed bearing plant,they will be yours for food]

revelations 22.2 the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations ,bearing 12 fruits[cannabis has 30,000]

ex 25;40 make them the design ye saw upon the mount[see the early police posters of the plant of life[tree of knowledge of good and evil]

One Under God has done us all a favour. He has confirmed that it is only his/her (allegedly christian) beliefs that count, and the rest of us had just better do as s/he says or else. Get a life mate, or, better yet, allow someone else to end theirs in their own time and manner.

It is really hard to take seriously anyone who does not"worship" at all. To think people could be so arrogant and ignorant towards their Creator. You only have to look at the mess the Western World is in as they have embraced the unscientific idiotic philosophy of secular humanism. They murder the unborn by the truckload and then claim to be moral guardians in regards to Euthenasia. They refuse to smack their kids and ask dumb questions as to why we have so much violence today. They ignore every sensible moral boundary and wonder why our hospitals can't hold all the mentally afflicted. Not being happy enough with not being able to keep together a marriage they want to brainwash our kids with their own god denying and god hating philosophies.

Good point, Lesleyb

>>He speaks of Drs maintaining "life" which raises the question of how we define "life". Life which has lost all quality is not "life", for me it is "existing"... Society needs to recognise this fact and not cling to the norms of the past or impose the constraints of religion or any other dogma on intelligent people who spend their lives making choices<<

My guess is that we would see a fairly precise correlation here between the anti-abortion lobby and the anti-euthanasia brigade.

Both groups share a religious (in the broadest sense) belief that our lives are not in fact our own, but "belong" to the Almighty. Therefore any attempt to thwart God's designs for us - suicide, for example - is deeply sinful.

They also have the most expedient view of what constitutes "life": from zygote to vegetable.

So there are no right answers, folks.

There never are where religion is concerned. Just a truckload more questions.

And hi to you, runner.

>>You only have to look at the mess the Western World is in as they have embraced the unscientific idiotic philosophy of secular humanism.<<

Mate, you and your fellow religionists held the stage for centuries, and what did you give us? The Crusades. The Inquisition. The ducking-stool. Healing-by-incantation...

http://www.maggietron.com/med/religion.php

Not sure that's a record to boast too much about.