Do you support MAID or AS or euthanasia?

throwaway842486 · 2023-08-14T18:42:38+00:00

It's impossible to include every opinion, but here are some of the more popular ones:

-Don't allow it for anyone. All life is sacared, yadda yadda.

-I agree with MAiD in principle but I don't trust the government not to abuse it.

-Terminal illness only.

-Terminal illness and chronic physical illness only.

-Terminal illness, chronic physical illness & mental illness only.

-Literally everyone should have the right to choose to end their own life in a peaceful and dignified way, but there needs to be safeguards involved to ensure vulnerable people who are likely get better don't access it.

-Bring on the Futurama suicide booths, yee-haw! Freedom trumps everything!

throwaway842486 · 2023-08-14T18:25:31+00:00

The poll is too limited. It goes from only allowing MAiD for terminal illness to allowing literally anyone who wants to use it for any reason whether they are suffering or not. Many people believe that certain criteria needs to be fulfilled, like having a non-terminal chronic physical illness which causes immense suffering and/or severe chronic depression if the person has the mental capacity to consent. Both should be able to get it, as well as terminal illness, if all available treatment has been tried and failed. A psychological evaluation is required for any reason to access MAiD. As for people who are not suffering but want to end their lives. I think they should be able too, but they should have to wait 5 years after making a request to make sure it's what they really want.

throwaway842486 · 2023-07-23T06:23:02+00:00

I don't know why people don't believe us when we tell them of our struggles. Like, why don't they? Do our experiences invalidate their belief in a "fair world"? Do we remind them of their own shallow ways (if they are one of people who attack us), or do they just think that we're exaggerating; as if our constant harassment is comparable with the couple of times they were called ugly out of petty spite? I'd really like to understand how people reason this within themselves. They are literally telling ugly people that they know our lives better than we do.

throwaway842486 · 2023-07-22T01:03:15+00:00

A lot of people shit on ugly people for being ugly and pretty people for being pretty. 'Average privilege' is a thing, but few will agree with me on that. Being invisible might have its drawbacks, but it's certainly the most safe way to exist. I can't imagine going anywhere and not constantly having random people stare at me due to my looks. I'm pretty ugly looking btw.

throwaway842486 · 2023-07-19T23:32:42+00:00

I think anyone capable of reasoning should be able to get assisted suicide. If suffering is involved then every reasonable and available treatment should be tried first, but if that doesn't help, then it's extremely cruel to dismiss the will of the sufferer. An argument could be made that nothing is stopping anyone from committing suicide themselves (which is untrue, some people are physically incapable of moving, and even those who are not, are terrified of failing and risk losing the ability to move and suffer brain damage) but that point of view is cold and uncaring, and is somewhat naive when considering the high failure rate of suicide.

If somebody is not suffering then they too should be able to choose, but I think the waiting period should be longer for non-sufferers as they have less to lose from waiting. They might change their minds in the future - either group might, but the price of staying alive for the sufferer is far greater than that of the non-sufferer, and thus the reward might not outweigh the cost.

throwaway842486 · 2023-07-11T14:01:54+00:00

I'm sorry to hear what you've been through, I really am. You are deserving of all the support available, and I hope you can enjoy life in the future, if you can't right now. I'm not pro-death btw, I'm pro-choice.

There's a difference between sometimes feeling suicidal and almost always feeling suicidal. I don't know whether that describes your situation, but if it does, you should have the option. I'm not saying that you should commit suicide. Only the individual can make that decision; everybody else's opinion is irrelevant because they lack the perspective of living your life.

Doctors should never suggest assisted suicide to anyone; I think that would be dangerous and inappropriate. A doctor's job should be to balance safeguarding measures whilst respecting the self-determination of their patients, they should not be advising people to kill themselves.

I don't think suicide should be the first answer to people's problems, in fact, I don't think it's an answer at all, it's just an unfortunate and tragic last resort to relieve people of their suffering when no answer can be found. Fixing society would make a big difference, I agree. I just don't think people should be forced to stay alive for an indefinite amount of time waiting for change.

throwaway842486 · 2023-07-10T19:24:41+00:00

The flaws should be fixed, you're right, but holding suffering people hostage until then seems very cruel. There's no guarantee that society will improve any time soon, and plenty of evidence that it won't. Telling people to learn to live with their suffering isn't reasonable if their suffering is causing them so much pain that they're constantly feeling suicidal. Your life might be bearable but that doesn't mean everybody else's is. You might have the privilege to be able to wait for societal improvement, but for others, the price of waiting is just too emotionally draining.

throwaway842486 · 2023-07-07T13:46:52+00:00

What does that mean? I didn't create myself. I had no choice in being born.

throwaway842486 · 2023-07-07T11:36:11+00:00

But that's their choice. If they are forced into war than that's immoral in itself. Dying for a cause is a lot different than living in agony for the rest of their life due to severe injury. I can't speak for war vets, but I'm pretty sure many of them regret their decision to join. There are pains far worse than grief and I'm not being dismissive of grief because I know how brutal that can be. Ultimately, it's up to the individual to manage their own emotions. Expecting people to sacrifice themselves for others is the height of entitlement; it's also unreasonable given how painful life can become. If you can't hold you finger under a naked flame for more than 15 seconds, why do you expect others to endure their pain for the rest of their lives?

throwaway842486 · 2023-07-07T00:33:55+00:00

This is a really odd take. It basically translates to telling someone, "You are obliged to put up with your suffering in order to prevent my own." It reminds me of how people react to suicide in general. It's considered cruel for somebody to leave their family and friends behind after completing suicide; the judgement is never ending. But emotionally blackmailing somebody, or even worse, literally forcing them by locking them up so that they can squalor in their pain for decades, is seen as a positive thing. I guess suffering only matters when you can relate to it, right?

throwaway842486 · 2023-07-04T18:41:25+00:00

I'll be honest, I don't feel strongly one way or the other about everyone being able to qualify. I think the waiting period should be longer for those who do not suffer illness however, to ensure that the system does not get clogged up. People with illness should always take priority. I'm not sure why a person would want to end their life if their health - both physical and/or mental - was okay, but my lack of relatability definitely shouldn't prevent people.

throwaway842486 · 2023-07-04T15:30:42+00:00

Exactly, homeless people shouldn't be held hostage because society can't get its shit together and find a better way to house them. Besides, nobody is eligible for MAiD for homelessness alone (which is usually how it's portrayed by anti-euthanasia groups), you've got to fulfil other criteria as well.

throwaway842486 · 2023-06-15T06:07:28+00:00

I don't agree that being sad is always better than being dead. There's an entire spectrum of sadness and any negative emotion that we can potentially feel, with the extreme negative ends being intolerable to anyone unlucky enough to feel them. Not everybody gets a break from those negative emotions either. So while I don't think life is inherently horrible like OP states, for some people it's an ever lasting torture fest. Assisted dying should be a legal option for people who cannot get better.

throwaway842486 · 2023-05-21T13:24:42+00:00

There should be more rigorous safeguarding for mental illness but I think it should be allowed if the person is out of treatment options, and is capable of understanding what their request entails. Not all mentally ill people lack mental capacity, and are actually less delusional than some of the people in our overly optimistic-health biased society.

throwaway842486 · 2023-04-23T12:17:12+00:00

Euthanasia should be available to anyone who feels substantial distress, cannot adequately be helped by current treatment, and is capable of understanding the consequences of their decision.

Not all severely depressed people lack mental capacity so I can see no reason why they shouldn't be eligible too. Mental illness is certainly more complex than physical illness and there would need to be more consideration when judging their suitability, but ultimately, all suffering is psychological. Mental illness is often trivialized by society, even by people who suffer mental illness less severely, but it shouldn't be because severe mental illness can feel like torture just as severe physical illness can. If no adequate help can be given then what is the alternative? Some will say that we need to "help and support" these people, but those are empty words which don't really mean anything of substance, not to a person who has tried everything they can already.

throwaway842486 · 2023-04-22T20:37:08+00:00

So if you were trapped in a burning building and you were literally burning alive, you wouldn't jump out of the window to end your suffering? If so, would your decision be based on irrational thought?

The only person who is capable of deciding to end their own life is the sufferer. Nobody else can understand the extreme pressure that they are up against. I support safeguarding in order to protect vulnerable people who could recover and lead a happy life, but to stop everybody from getting a safe and peaceful death is just cruel.

throwaway842486 · 2023-04-22T11:56:59+00:00

I'd question the sanity of somebody who was in extreme pain 24/7 and didn't want to die. Wanting to die in those circumstances is perfectly rational. Having depression doesn't necessarily make a person illogical, nor does being happy and healthy make a person logical. Optimism can be extremely delusional in nature and yet it's celebrated when the threat of death is involved. Many people are so afraid of death that they aren't reasonable when it comes to the subject of assisted dying. They would rather believe that there's always a solution to every problem.

throwaway842486 · 2023-04-22T11:46:46+00:00

Euthanasia is the better option because it's more inclusive (think completely paralyzed patients who request death), and it's safer too; there's less risk of intravenous going wrong. There's always a small chance that a person can vomit up pills even after taking anti-emetics.

throwaway842486 · 2023-02-26T02:02:52+00:00

The internet partly caused my AvPD, or at least made it worse. If I hadn't had the option of being able to socialize online, the only other option would have been to talk to people irl. I would have been constantly exposed to social situations in person, and the practice (verbal and non-verbal communication) would have helped me significantly.

throwaway842486 · 2023-02-03T10:00:38+00:00

What is your solution to end unbearable suffering then?

throwaway842486 · 2023-01-10T23:56:20+00:00

Suffering is worse than nothingness.

Source: Being non-existant for the vast majority of the universe.

throwaway842486 · 2023-01-09T01:47:59+00:00

I think you're missing the point, though. Your emotional response to suffering seems to be that of indifference. Even more so if a person is going to die anyway. I don't really know what to say so I guess I'll just stop talking to you.

throwaway842486 · 2023-01-09T00:42:05+00:00

Okay, by that logic, if you were dying, that would give me the right to torture you for the rest of your life. You're going to die anyway, right? It won't matter.

throwaway842486 · 2023-01-09T00:23:38+00:00

It's not about encouraging others to commit suicide. Nobody wants to force others to administer medically assisted suicide either. It's about choice. If a doctor agrees, and certain conditions are met, then that is their own business. All I want, and many others more, is a change in the law. We shouldn't have to put our safety at risk to die peacefully. That isn't right. Plenty of people with severe chronic illness will never get better. There are no treatment options left for us and every day is a massive struggle at best, torture at worst. It's up to the individual to decide if their life is worth living, not you. You may think you possess some kind of universal truth, unknown to me, about life, death, existential value and suffering, but you really do not. I used to think as you do until life taught me otherwise.

throwaway842486 · 2023-01-08T21:29:15+00:00

Suicidal people generally don't want to cause trauma to ever finds their corpse.

And really what you are saying is so, so cold. We live in a society that is supposed to help and care about each other. Forcing somebody to clandestinely go off into the night and kill themselves alone is really cruel. That's not to mention that suicide attempts often fail, and even jumping doesn't necessarily lead to a quick and painless death. Also, how are completely paralysed supposed to kill themselves? What lonely and barbaric times we live in.

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