Belgium Euthanizes Deaf Twins Going Blind - page 2

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  1. 9:20 am by
    Quote from Jeweles26
    But the difference is consenting to it yourself vs basically having someone volunteer you for death. As an adult, you can prepare for your eventual decline, physically and mentally. Write a living will. 'I don't want to live if I am such-and-such...'
    But a child? Yes, I am sure parents of terminally ill children would just want to end their suffering. But I just see something so, SO wrong about consenting for someone else to be killed. Especially someone who probably does not have the emotional and mental maturity to understand the very FINAL implications of it.
    I don't know. I am completely for assisted suicide/euthanasia for adults who can perform informed consent. But there is just something that gives me the heebie-jeebies about authorizing it for someone other than yourself.
    It is precisely because children lack the cognitive and emotional maturity to make these kind of "life and death" decisions that the US and, I presume, most other countries give the legal right to give or withhold consent for healthcare decisions to parents or court-appointed guardians.
    Orange Tree, malamud69, VioletKaliLPN, and 2 others like this.
  2. 9:29 am by
    Fine, but there is also a difference between removing someone from a vent or stopping heroic measures vs. euthanasia. Or at least it sure seems that way to me. Then again, I have never had to deal with either situation and pray to God (heck, for this, I'd pray to any and all gods that may exist anywhere) that I never HAVE to make the distinction as a parent.
    SoldierNurse22 likes this.
  3. 1:45 pm by
    @ Jeweles so you would feel more comfortable seeing a loved one suffer in pain that has a terminal illness over making the decision to end the suffering? This is exactly why we make that choice for our pets. Yes, they are animals and not human but the arguument is the same -quality of life.
    Orange Tree likes this.
  4. 2:34 pm by
    No of course not, I specifically said I am for euthanasia. I just don't feel right making that decision for someone who does not understand it. That does not mean I would feel comfortable with seeing a loved one suffer. But it feels wrong, to me to choose to end the life of someone who can not speak for themselves.
  5. 3:41 pm by
    I think it is one of those things that seems good and logical on paper. I can also see greedy relatives who decide that mom/dad are outliving the inheritance or a sick child who is simply viewed as a burden. I guess thats because I see it daily as a nurse. A dementia dx isn't hard to get and neither is declaring somone incompetent at least not in my state. There is a BIG difference in deciding on surgery or keeping someone alive artificially and basically executing them as it suits you. Talk about conflict of interest.
  6. 5:29 pm by
    I'll get flamed for this, but I'm horrified. Horrified that it's legal there, and horrified that the best help the medical community could come up with for these two brothers was euthanasia. What happened to do no harm? I agree that there are worse things than dying and that suffering is terrible, but I still believe euthanasia should not be in the medical community's scope of practice. Let's not even talk about being able to consent for others to be euthanized!
    imintrouble likes this.

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