Assisted dying - Lord Carey

[cromwell]

There is very long list of people I would like to assist to die, but in the case of a very ill friend or relative, I would prefer a medical professional to do it.

You post stuff like this and worse and then complain people are being awful to you.

[papasmurf]

Yes I can understand that but is that because you would not want to do the killing even if it was their choice even if a medic was present?

I have already stated that.

[T00ts]

There is very long list of people I would like to assist to die, but in the case of a very ill friend or relative, I would prefer a medical professional to do it.

Yes I can understand that but is that because you would not want to do the killing even if it was their choice even if a medic was present?

[papasmurf]

But would you have agreed/helped them to take something there and then to end their life long before their last days which is, I think, the question?

There is very long list of people I would like to assist to die, but in the case of a very ill friend or relative, I would prefer a medical professional to do it.

[T00ts]

Been there done that discussed with them well before they got very ill. They did not want to be kept alive just for the sake of it.

But would you have agreed/helped them to take something there and then to end their life long before their last days which is, I think, the question?

[papasmurf]

Imagine yourself or a loved one in their last weeks. What would be your decision?

Been there done that discussed with them well before they got very ill. They did not want to be kept alive just for the sake of it.

[T00ts]

Oh bugger T00ts I was going to say obviously not you or Baz when I posted but I thought they'll know that anyway.

Don't worry I didn't doubt you!  We who believe are quite used to the sticks and stones! 

[cromwell]

Oh dear I do hope I don't fit into that category. I think I have made it clear all along that I understand that we all have free choice on how we live or die come to that. Like everyone else I am just stating my view.

Oh bugger T00ts I was going to say obviously not you or Baz when I posted but I thought they'll know that anyway.

[patman post]

Are we talking about the same thing? I have agreed that the patient should have everything to make them comfortable that to me is not the assisted dying that they are talking about. Assisted dying is surely where someone decides well before the end that they have had enough, or worse their relatives/doctors decide for them.

Thinking about this makes me uncomfortable. I admit I load my reasoning onto the belief that the paramount job of the medical staff is to relieve the suffering of the patient.   

Therefore, my fuzzy logic leads me to believe that it is acceptable if the amount of medication judged to be needed to alleviate suffering gradually increases and eventually crosses the safety threshold and ends the life as a consequence. I believe that to be patient care, not mercy killing. 

I do not agree with administering drugs with the primary intention to kill, or withholding nourishment and water.   

I hope I, myself, never need to make any of these decisions, or wonder if what's being sustained and ventilated is in reality the corpse of a loved one...

[T00ts]

Possibly being polite.

Let's face it there are some who identify as Christians and are anything but and wouldn't be out of place with those mentioned in the extremism stakes.

Oh dear I do hope I don't fit into that category. I think I have made it clear all along that I understand that we all have free choice on how we live or die come to that. Like everyone else I am just stating my view.

[cromwell]

LOL Why leave out Christianity?

Possibly being polite.

Let's face it there are some who identify as Christians and are anything but and wouldn't be out of place with those mentioned in the extremism stakes.

[T00ts]

Well of course the problem with letting religion decide Iife and death is you end up with Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia

LOL Why leave out Christianity?

[johnofgwent]

Are we talking about the same thing? I have agreed that the patient should have everything to make them comfortable that to me is not the assisted dying that they are talking about. Assisted dying is surely where someone decides well before the end that they have had enough, or worse their relatives/doctors decide for them.

Well of course the problem with letting religion decide Iife and death is you end up with Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia

[T00ts]

That was the second time in that post you said that A=B, B being denial of God's role in our existence, but it isn't true.
If someone is dying in intractable pain, the usual response is to give them opiates until they lose consciousness. A few milligrams more will mean the breathing is depressed and the patient dies. How does that deny anything?
What's your problem with that?

How many times does the Bible say:
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice"?

Are we talking about the same thing? I have agreed that the patient should have everything to make them comfortable that to me is not the assisted dying that they are talking about. Assisted dying is surely where someone decides well before the end that they have had enough, or worse their relatives/doctors decide for them.

[Barry]

demands for control over the end of the most sacred thing that we have been gifted, our very lives, is to deny God's role in that existence. How can that be right?

That was the second time in that post you said that A=B, B being denial of God's role in our existence, but it isn't true.
If someone is dying in intractable pain, the usual response is to give them opiates until they lose consciousness. A few milligrams more will mean the breathing is depressed and the patient dies. How does that deny anything?
What's your problem with that?

How many times does the Bible say:
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice"?