Discussion: Assisted Suicide

[Russell Nash]

Just watched "How to Die in Oregon." Pretty powerful documentary. It raises a lot of questions on the topic. I personally think it's up to the individual. The episode of TNG where Worf breaks his back is a great morality story on the entire issue of assisted suicide.

 

[Bubonic]

If a person is simply wasting away, no hope in site and their life is reduced to constant suffering and they want an end to it, it should be granted.

Who are we to force someone to live a miserable life? Why would any government sponsor such cruelty?

I see some people say that they couldn't support this morally, implying that if there is a vote on it they'd vote to keep it illegal...

How much easier is it to put a check mark on paper compared to living life in unending agony, not being able to achieve anything more than drooling on oneself and staring into nothingness?

If we live in secular societies religious reasoning shouldn't factor into the laws of the land. It shouldn't come down to some convoluted belief that it is in God's hands. If that were so then these people would die anyways without the constant medical supervision they require and the machines they are plugged into.

 

[gn6196]

It's a very tough subject. The will to survive is a very strong drive. Once you lose that will, maybe it's best that a person not suffer.

 

[Russell Nash]

Come to think of it, TNG covered the issue of assisted suicide perfectly. Worfs broken back in the episode "Ethics." "Half a life" and the man who's society forces people aged 60 to suicide. McCoy's father in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Vulcans consider euthanasia of an old person normal practice (VOY: Death Wish).