Euthanasia, your views

It is a very sad world we live in where we debate about euthanasia instead of striving for a cure ... I believe in 2023 we should no longer have diseases such as cancer, ALS/MND/PBP, Alzheimer's/dementia, etc. as terminal .... these should all be now treatable at the very least if not curable ... it is a sad world when both sides can arm factions in Ukraine to the teeth to murder each other .... while diseases kill us all .... diseases that could be CURED if we didn't spend so much time funding WMD and other ways to kill each other .... there would be no need for euthanasia ....

Amazing that the slippery slope fallacy still catches so many people.

I'd favour it as an option. Much the same as abortion, I probably would never use the option but I think the option should be available to those who might need it.

Other countries do it and have such strict safeguarding in place that it actually makes it difficult to get.

^ Indeed and I guess it is worth adding that the idea that some people might be cajoled or forced into taking an option is not an excuse to remove that option from everyone else.

That is not to say it is not an awful thing when it happens. If someone is forced or cajoled into an option they do not want to take - especially a terminal one - then that is truly awful.

It just is not an argument against having that option there. I believe access to the choice of abortion is a good thing for example. Every woman should have that option.

Are there women and girls who are cajoled into or even forced into taking that option? I have no doubt there must be. And that is truly awful if and when it is happening. But that is not even a little bit an argument against having that option in society.

Agree completely. You may still have decent health when you get a diagnosis and want to live on while that applies. It's when your condition becomes unbearable that many will want to have the choice.

I would be against legalising euthanasia on the 'thin end of a wedge' basis.

Yes, its a undoubtedly a humane alternative for people facing painful deaths, and yes, I can see circumstances where I would wish for it for myself - BUT once euthanasia is legitimised in any guise I feel it will gradually widen in scope, perhaps as far as becoming a universal right.

I also worry about it becoming a social pressure ("its not just about you: don't burden your family or friends either") or being use to terminate newborns with prognoses based on quality of life probability at birth, etc.

Once we classify euthanasia as 'humane', 'treatment', 'healthcare' or something that is 'administered', it will inevitably become an everyday option.

I also feel we have made huge advances in palliative care, and should continue to develop that as a humane response and universal right; I say this having been sad witness to 3 cases over a 6 month period last year.

If it is introduced in Ireland will there be a 4 year waiting list for the...procedure.

I think it is a good in theory and could work in a country with a functioning health and social care system and a general culture of diligence and honesty.

Here in Ireland we have a long history of and ongoing problems with institutional abuse, apathy, greed, corruption, neglect and incompetence. Also animal abuse and cruelty. We can't seem to deal with HSE employees raping residents in nursing homes - so how are we going to deal with the "nuclear weapon" of healthcare that is euthanasia.

Elderly people with dementia are routinely denied interventions (e.g. cataract removal) that could help them and their quality of of life. it's easier to just write them off, attribute everything to incurable conditions, fob them off onto someone else or put them on a waiting list that is so long that they'll be dead before anything is done. Is this a culture that we want to introduce the option of euthanasia into?

Of course someone with a disease could euthanise themselves as soon as they're diagnosed. But surely it would be better if they could spend their time with their family or whatever they want to do while they're healthy. Knowing that when they they get sick, they can have the dignity to organise their death at the time of their choosing. Surrounded by family and friends, if that's what they want.

If it was a pet, we'd say it's the humain thing to do. But we don't extend that kindness to our fellow human.

I asked a user above but the user has not come back yet. So perhaps you can help me with the same question.

There appears to be places that already have access to Euthanasia. Like the company called "Dignitas" in Switzerland.

So the question that occurs to me - and I genuinely do not know the answer - did the slippery slope situation you describe above occur there? If your thesis is correct and your conclusion is "inevitable" (the user I asked earlier used the word "guaranteed" so you are talking with the same certainty as they are) did it actually happen there as you describe?

IF not - is it as inevitable and guaranteed as you guys are suggesting? Or is it similar to the hyperbolic "Abortion will just become a form of contraception" argument we heard during the last referendum?

As for your last paragraph I would wholly agree. But I would point out that advancing and implementing palliative care is not mutually exclusive with offering Euthanasia. I can not see a single reason why we can not pursue both in our society and offer the best of both that we possibly can. And then offer the patient the true "dignity" - because that word is getting used a bit - of choosing one of those options for themselves. Because personal choice and autonomy is dignity as far as I can see.

Another user earlier talked about how we should be pursuing cures and treatments. Also agree with that! But again - it's not even a little bit mutually exclusive. Lets by all means pursue the best treatment and care options we can. But let us not pretend that the existence of such options is an argument against any other options.

There's that 'slippery slope' argument again.

Do you have any explanation as to why you think these controls would automatically get dismantled over the time in the name of convenience?

Legislation is not subject to some form of entropy where everything just dismantles over time. In many cases it actually reverses. Who's to say euthanasia wouldn't go back to being illegal / more restricted after a period of legalisation?

We're starting to see that exact thing happen in the US with abortion for example where it's getting more restricted now, not less.

Strict safeguarding my arse. Like Canada where a veteran in a wheelchair asking for a ramp at her home was offered euthanasia instead? - and there are many similar stories from there. Or Belgium recently where a patient was finshed off with a pillow over the face when the drugs didn't work?

Those things should not happen and if there are proper safeguards in place, they won't. All this sort of slippery slope whataboutery does is to deflect away from the issue in hand. I wonder how many of you people who are opposed to euthanasia have had any first hand experience of this issue?

Whenever this topic comes up I am left thinking about Micheal Nugent of "I keano" fame and Atheist Ireland.

His wife got terminal cancer and wanted to choose to die should the suffering of the illness become too much. So sure was it she wanted this that it was planned well in advance. So sure was he that he wanted to offer her that dignity and choice that he was willing to assist her if she could not do it. Which in our country meant he was basically willing to go to prison for a long time for essentially killing another human being. All for love. How heart breaking is that?

If anyone is interested in the arguments FOR assisted dying he wrote about his wife and his opinions and arguments in the link below and there is a you tube video too if you do not want to read the transcript:

https://www.michaelnugent.com/2019/09/19/assisted-dying/