After having read Bettina Arndt's article "Euthanasia is our fight" -I can so identify with her - having recently undergone the prolonged and agonising death of my own father at age 87. Our family had to sit back and watch this proud and wonderful old man literally rot away in front of our eyes - he, in his last 6 weeks or so could not eat or drink - was in horrific pain - could not tolerate most pain killers including morphine - it was the most terrible time of my life -and I for one do not want to suffer the same fate nor have my family witness such a demise - please where do we go from here to have our voices heard and action taken so this can not happen anymore .

I was in a recent situation where I was taking care of an elderly man that I had made friends with whilst working in a coffee shop. Over the 7 years I knew him, not once did I meet any of his family nor did they come to visit. His wife had died and I had encouraged him to come every morning for coffee as he had with his wife. We then became friends and would have lunch together etc. Anyway one weekend I could not find him and eventually got police to go to his unit. He was found there on the floor in a bad way. He was taken to hospital and it took me ages to find his daughter and niece. Anyway they took over everything even though he wanted me to be there for him. When it finally came to making a decision on what was to happen to him (eg nursing home etc) I made all the arrangements. He went down hill very quickly and it was suggested to his daughter that he be taken off life support. He had made it clear to me that he did not want to go this way. I had no rights when it came to the decision even though I had looked after him for his last years. He could not make his own decisions in the end but that did not mean that he wanted to die.

Deborah58, you most certainly contributed to the total sum of human happiness and meaningfulness. What happened in the end game for this ageing man was outside your control and his too. But it sounds like you added some important stuff to his last years. I applaud you.

I am 75 years old, and quite literally my days are numbered. I would like to think that my wishes will be respected, and my wishes will certainly include a strong desire that I don't cause a big burden of suffering upon me or any of my loved ones or friends. But I am genuinely uncertain about the pros and cons of the suffering that may attend a natural demise. Will the experience of pain and indignity actually contribute positively to the total sum of human experience? Or, does my natural inclination, as a tidy engineer, to get things over neatly and smartly and as cost effectively as possible indicate the way forward? Certainly I think my personal wishes should have a big say.

In reply to Fencepost - hopefully you will be able to have your wishes respected when the time comes - don['t like your chances at the moment - my Dad never wanted to go to an aged care facility (had no say after suffering from dementia (brought on by TIAs.) If he had a choice he would have demanded a quick release from all the agonising pain and suffering plus indignity of diaper wearing etc. not to mention the sadness suffered by all his family, carers etc.
In the last months he was literally starving - not being able to swallow (no tubes to feed him) - he was only a skeleton by the time he passed on. Unless you have suffered through the sad demise of someone you love it is hard to comprehend how you could help them to leave this life but believe me - if we could have - we would have - the picture of this poor tortured soul (who was a very strong, independant man 10 months before and a returned soldier from the 2nd world war)will never leave my mind. Do you want your family to remember you this way?

The small minority of selfish people who would deny Australians legal voluntary euthanasia, and the almost unbelievably dishonest politicians who continue to deny us this option are the natural successors to the heartless torturers of the Inquisition. And mainly of the same religious pursuasion too!

I strongly agree with Ollies' thoughts on euthenasia. I too watched my elderly father die a prologned and horrible death in a nursing home. He also was a proud and independent man until his late eighties when dementia set in and he could no longer make decisions for himself. Until that time he had always stressed how horrified he would be if he became an invalid and a burden to society.
His death was certainly anything but dignified and even staff at the nursing home who see suffering all the time were upset to see him in so much pain.
I truly believe family should be given a choice in these situations.
Katie

I think it is important not to muddy the waters around euthanasia by confusing issues relevant to involuntary euthanasia with those relevant to voluntary euthanasia, eg what is respecting someone's wishes in one case may be denying them in the other.