Do You Believe In Mercy Killing For The Severely Ill?

In my profession I've been involved in both sides of that equation. I've sat on the floor with one of my eight year old Labrador's who was dieing of cancer..I injected him myself (at the Vet's office) with a triple dose of Sodium Pentathol. I'd had seen the biopsy, knew the cellular structure of the cancer. It was very aggressive and had all but destroyed his liver..Dogs are often very stoic...they won't yell out in pain even thought they are hurting inside...I wasn't going to hold onto him for my own sake. I provided him with the ultimate act of love. The same kind of unconditional love he showed me for the short time he was here...he always comforted me and I was now going to comfort him and stop his pain...It's never easy, but quality of life is the most important consideration.

Human life is different and carries a much different standard with regards to treatment.Often again it's the family that wants that wants to hold on at all cost. Dr's can't legally assist in death because it's against their oath and against the law, however knowing medically the patient will not recover, such as my brother-in-law who had liver cancer. He was in so much pain he was constantly in a sleeping state because of the morphine needed to quell that pain....Because the Dr. can't decide, the family must...Stop the medication and the kidneys will shut down and death will come quickly, without pain. That was done.

I doubt Dr's will be able to assist in this with people as Vet's do with animals...I agree it should be a viable option, but it's not and likely won't be....it is now left up to the family to make that decision to stop the medication so death will come...in the legal sense the Dr's are following the advice of the family or what's been written in a will. They won't assist by giving an overdose of meds such as I did for my dog, but they can at the orders of the family, stop giving medication...there is a fine line for them not to cross and they don't...We hold onto life until there is no other option....All in my family have instructions in place to help other family members in making that final decision....it's all we can do for now and we'll continue that process...

Definitely, why prolong the agony?, life can be hard enough without having to suffer a long and painful death aswell.

I've always said if I was in that situation "Don't be waiting for a miracle cure, pull the plug"

Its a hard decision to make If you love someone you want to hold on to them --but do you really want them to suffer

If someone I loved were in terrible pain and suffering and they were going to die but it would be prolonged, I would do whatever they needed for me to help them be comfortable. If they have made the decision to go peacefully on THEIR terms, who am I to get in the way? Obviously, I would never just do it...it would have to be their decision solely. I cant stand to see anyone (especially those I love) suffer needlessly.

I always find it sad that the Law forces you to keep alive people, who the Law would prosecute you for not putting down, were they animals.

So animals dignity and suffering is worth more than ours? Interesting.........

I certainly do because I know if I were in that position, I would want to die

I tend to agree. I've heard of doctors allowing patients to overdose themselves.

If the person want's to leave here, despite their age/situation, I'll let them leave.

yeah, and anyone with an IQ less than 100 - oops, sorry president bush!

If i was in deep pain, I wouldnt die until God takes my soul. period.

Yes I do.