I make no apologies for my sincere and genuine belief in the right of anyone to decide how and when they die.

Neither do I make any apology for hoping that the right-to-lifers suffer a very unpleasant death as they remember their attempts to stop other people from dying with peace and dignity.

There is no doubt in my mind that if suicide was made a lawful activity the laws enabling and regulating suicide would be abused by many people. Legalising suicide is legalising murder making it easier to cover up. Old people are not a burden, they are a treasure to be cherished for as long as possible.

'These people kind of reminded me of the hippy
generation of the 60s,'
Posted by Yabby, Wednesday, 9 May 2007 10:12:29 AM

These people are the hippy generation of the 60's.

Leigh and Arjay... I suspect it doesn't happen often, but I agree with you both wholeheartedly on this one. I don't really see why people should be held hostage to disease and illness when they would rather relieve themselves of suffering.

I hear the arguments put forth against it and I concede legalising euthanasia does have it's share of risks - however the notion that we shouldn't even try because it might be abused seems to me, to be giving up on what is an important issue. When faced with risks, you come up with solutions to get around them... you don't just give up.

Sometimes I see this argument being put forth to quell any efforts at legalising euthanasia - you often find however, that the people using the argument are less concerned about the risks, and are simply opposed at all costs.

So more importantly, has anyone got any constructive ideas in relation to how abuse of euthanasia could be prevented?

I also support voluntary euthanasia. One of the interesting things on the 4 corners doco was the fear people have of ending up in nursing homes.

Facing an ageing population our government's response was to support the growth of a nursing home industry, which is clearly not what anyone wants. The inmates are a captive market which just adds to the indignity.

In Welcome to the Monkey House, Kurt Vonnegut (rest his clever soul) described suicide parlours. People could go there, sort out their affairs, get a bit of counselling and then go peacefully.

We'd need some really strong rules and regulations ensuring that it was voluntary, maybe a registry of intent or something. If people could register long before their competence could be questioned, like the people in the doco, you'd reduce the possibilities for complications.

I don't think that anticipating problems is a good way to start thinking about it. There are problems with everything. Should we abandon social security because some cheat? Should we get rid of schools in case some kids play up? Should we go back to flat earth theory in case someone falls off the under side?

According to currently fashionable economics markets work on simple principles of supply and demand. There's a demand for this, so where's the corresponding supply?

Vivy, based on your logic, we would have to ban say cars, matches,
knives and a host of other things, as they are likely to be abused.

Nobody has said that old people are a burden. What certainly I am
saying is that I want to make choices about my life. Life is
a journey, which I enjoy and appreciate, every day. But when/if
the time comes, when I am due to be shipped to a home, where my
arse is wiped, I'm spoon fed, in pain, to me thats not quality of
life. At that point I should have the choice to decide about me,
no matter what you think.

Now I could pull up at the side of the road, find some box poison,
which is full of 1080, eat some and die a fairly violent death,
not pleasant by any standards. I could shoot myself, slit my
wrists, there are a number of other options. My dogs are lucky,
when their time comes, I can purchase some Nembutal from the vet
and they go to sleep peacefully. Why should I not have the same
rights as my dogs?