""But there must be safeguards that the person concerned genuinely wants to end their life and they are not being pressurised into it or have it done without their knowledge and consent, as would have been the case with me," he added, referring to an incident in 1985 when he was placed on a life support machine."

This is the problem I have with Assisted Suicide. Is it really your decision, or a doctor who just wants you removed from his caseload? Maybe a spiteful family member makes the decision. What about a bureaucrat who knows what best for you?

I have zero trust in any government safeguards.

Safeguards are not fail-safe, government mandated or not.

I don't trust that they would be used properly, by the proper people, for the proper reasons.

What happens if it's more beneficial, financially speaking, for you to be dead?

I support assisted suicide in theory, but in reality there are just way too many what if's, and too many ways for it to go wrong.

Hawking has a point. We let owners decide for their pets if they don't want them to suffer, but why can't the owner themselves make their own decision.

Amy, good idea with the instructions written down. If you don't write down your decisions, your next of kin will make the decision for you.

Which is why I think the whole business with Terri Schaivo was such B.S. She had no written instructions, then we need no witnesses to decide what she would have wanted. Husband, as next of kin, makes the decision.

"Oh, but she wanted to divorce him!"

"And where did she file the divorce papers? She didn't? Well, which divorce lawyer did she speak to? None? Then he's still next of kin."

It is a terribly difficult thing to watch a loved one die a painful death; and yes, a "quick" ending "might" be better for all involved.

I say "might"; because there is always the guilt associated with doubt in questioning if one did the right thing by pulling the plug; even if the patient's wishes are known, there can still guilt.

However, as others have stated, there are no guaranteed safeguards.

One thing that I find interesting is that the Terri Schaivo cases make the headlines; But, when a family is trying to keep a loved one alive (and have no way to pay) and the hospital is trying to pull the plug the news media is quite silent.

And this makes me more cautious about making assisted suicide legal - "no way to pay, then pull the plug - it's legal now you know."

Patrick,

We went through something similar with my dad when he was electrocuted and put in a coma. He had no will, no instructions, nothing. He was living with his long-term girlfriend, Ellen, but there was no common-law recognition in the state of GA so it all fell on me.

Now, I hadn't been in contact with him for years but since I was the eldest child that could be located at the time, I had to fly down from NYC to make all his medical decisions until my siblings could get there. It was awful. I didn't have a good relationship with him but I didn't wish death on him. If there was hope for a decent life, I would have chosen that option. But I dreaded having to be the one to make that decision. Every decision I made, I wondered "am I going to be accused of making wrong decisions because I hate him so much?" Or "what if he wakes up and I still hate him just as much as I did before the accident and wish I had pulled the plug?"

Once all of us kids had gotten there though, even though legally, it was MY choice, we decided as a group that it was best if the medical decisions rested with Ellen. No one know what his prognosis would be and we all agreed that she would have his best interest in mind when making any decisions; She had been with him 10 years by then, and knew him best. If anyone would do right by him, it was her. And, the house was in her name so worse case scenario, she wouldn't be out on the street should he pass. We started the paperwork to give her Power of Attorney and suddenly, Toxic Aunt (his sister) enters the scene. She decided, after not having been in any of our lives for YEARS, that she suddenly knew what was best for everyone. This is the same woman, who within ten minutes of me even finding out about the accident, called me (I still don't know how she got my number) and said things like "This is what you get for being so abscent. I hope you're happy now that your daddy is dying. Maybe you'll stay in touch from now on!" (Mind you, this woman has never so much as called me my entire life). She called the doctors, us, Ellen... endlessly... She would call the nurses, stating that he be kept alive at all costs, demanding information, etc... She was great at playing the "concerned sister". But, not ONCE did she actually come visit him in the hospital. She did however, go to he and Ellen's home, uninvited, and start divvying up his stuff amongst HER children; Ellen had to call the police. She also tried to interfere with the POA proceedings, insisting that as his "only sister" that SHE should be the one to call the shots. I also instructed the hospital to block her completely and share no information with her. When Ellen was finally granted POA, we all rested a little easier knowing that Toxic Aunt couldn't legally intervene. Not that it didn't stop her from trying... I still haven't spoken to the woman to this day.

I'm sorry Toxic Aunt made her presence felt, but I'm glad it all turned out right. I was afraid that you were going to tell me that Toxic Aunt somehow managed to get POA. Glad to know she was thwarted.

Dude, she's the reason I fully support assisted suicide. (Well that and I'm not a monster. I value quality of life and personal choice). She's the type of person who would keep someone alive so she could reep the benefits of it. It's disgusting.

Gotta side with Prof Hawking here. My mom switched her proxy from me to Brother #3 when she and dad moved to FLA. I know he will do the right thing, as he knew I would do the right thing had anything happened while they were still in CT. We've had occasion to discuss these things, and all the brothers and I agree; mom and dad are in on the discussions so they know what's what too. Better to talk it out while we're still cognizant, than not.

That said, it's in my will to unplug me and roll up the tubes if, after a certain amount of time, I can't sit up and ask for a glass of wine. Take what you need for whoever needs it, burn the rest. I haven't got much in the way of worldly possessions, but whoever wants whatever, have at it. No fighting, that's all I ask.

Watching my grandmother slowly and painfully die of cancer in the mid 90s, I supported assisted suicide and voted for it when it was passed by vote in Oregon in 1997. Its worked out ok I think, the system is certainly not perfect though.

That said, today, I categorically DO NOT support assisted suicide. We have GOVERNMENT run healthcare now with obamacare. The state gov here in Oregon is setup to run their new Cover Oregon system to comply with that law. This gives the state and feds compelete control over your body and the law to back them up. "Sorry, there is no cure, that we want to fund and you can't get it on your own. Here are some pills to kill yourself". I saw how the state and VA treated my grandfather after his stroke. State healthcare is an abomination.

Would you trust the government run by people who promote ads like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLpKDNVU9dA

Fly with your own wings! That the state forced you to buy with 3-4 government approved options.

Sounds like a real gem of a human being, Sabrina. But like I said, I'm very glad that she seemed to be thwarted at every turn. Especially when she started laying claims to his worldly possessions.

I mean, good grief, woman! At least wait until the guy actually dies!

I don't care if someone wants to commit suicide, but I don't think they should drag others into and get them to help them. Assisted suicide passed here in Oregon when I was in high school and I thought it was a good idea at the time, but have since changed my mind. There are too many ways for it to be abused such as it being a coerced decision. Especially now with government health care set to kick in, it's just a problem waiting to happen. Someone is too sick, old, injured, expensive, etc., and the decision is made to "assist" them. This leads to essentially euthanasia. If someone is terminal and wants to end their life, there are a ton of different ways to do it that don't involve others. Under Oregon law AS is done with a cocktail of pills. Often times people get seriously ill from taking them and end up throwing up, which results in not enough if the medications getting into their system to kill them and just causing them more health problems to deal with. When I worked at a particular hospital I saw 5 different cases of that exact scenario in a few month period. Considering the few cases I was aware of in that short of a period, I would believe it to be much more common than we are told.

What happens if it's more beneficial, financially speaking, for you to be dead? -- wtf at September 18, 2013 8:08 AM

Please take me out. I would rather have my sister make the decision at the 30 day mark before my house gets into foreclosure vs. the paid off property she can sell, my company's $250K life insurance is gone, and the other accidental death policies lapse.

My sis won't be a millionaire but the rest of her life should be fairly easy. And she knows my desires.

There are some other items I have willed to other people, but my sis is the primary benefactor.

And I don't consider permanent vegetative alive. This isn't Patch Adams.

I believe in assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. I resented the DNR papers that I felt coerced to sign in the hospital. I told them that I wanted them to go all out resuscitation-wise for about 3 minutes and then let me go if they were not successful. I was told that my choice was not possible. If they started life-saving measures, they could not stop them. I would have to be kept alive as a vegetable if I chose resuscitation. I was also told that with my medical history, life as a vegetable was a likely scenario.

I was resuscitated at 12 years old and was able to resume normal activities in short order. Why no try without condemning myself to life as a vegetable?

My husband and I went to a lawyer and paid for a legal contract that specified life-saving measures while also allowing for removal from life extending help if I have no hope of recovery. I'm disappointed that I had to go to a lawyer to get something that should be standard.

I was told that my choice was not possible.

LOL. When you have an advance directive, they ALWAYS assume it's a DNR. It would totally freak out the med establishment if it said Keep me alive at all cost! And it's been that way for decades.

The Japanese have long considered "assisted suicide" to be a normal way of doing business, if you know what I mean...

We Don't Let Animals Suffer, So Why Humans?

Because we value humans more than animals.