euthnasia

I think people should be able to leave a type of written statement with their solicitor or maybe even doctor to what extent of life support you wish to endure, and if you have requested a certain thing to be carried out then there should be a meeting with family and maybe 2 doctors to discuss what should be done. I know I would not want to be on life support, I would prefer to go with dignity.

the catch is, who decides who should be killed. When they did a study in Amsterdam(I think it was there thatits legal) they found that nearly half of patients euthanized by doctors hadn't asked for it, and weren't in all that much pain but were argumentative and difficult. it was sort of like the squeeky wheel that gets oiled, permanently.

I do believe in the right to die; if someone is of sound mind but can no longer care for themselves, they should be allowed to die. That was what Dr. Kevorkian was trying to do. And doctors need to respect a DNR (Do Not Resucitate) order--we didn't have one in place for my mother prior to her sedation, but no one had any idea that she would be talking Sunday night and early Monday morning go into respitory distress (that DNR went up so fast though!). But for terminally ill patients, I agree that they should be allowed to make the decision.