Murder or mercy?

[Steve]

I recently watched two people come down on this other person who said that they've thought about helping end their mother's life because she has cancer and has no hope of remission/recovery.

They said that he was scum, evil and a murderer, all because he wants his mother to stop suffering. Apparently his mother wants it too. He said he's contemplated helping her OD on medications and that didn't go over very well either.

Personally, I watched the argument then when the two people were banned, I asked the person in question what his mother wants. Apparently she just wants it to end. So I figured, that would be their decision wouldn't it? He's a minor so I'm sure the courts would have a field day, not only because he's a minor but because it's a mercy killing. An assist to suicide or an accessory to murder?

So which do you think it is/would be, murder or mercy?

[Crack Monk]

I think people should have the right to end their own lives. If this woman absolutely wants to die, she should be allowed to make that choice. If someone out there is willing to help her, then I have no problem with what they're doing. Just as long as that decision is 100% hers.

I'm not sure if I could help someone kill themself, but I'm also not against others doing it.

EDIT: See, my problem is, it sounds like this guy wants to help her OD on meds, but the fact that SHE wants to do it is almost secondary. It's like, "I'm going to help her kill herself. What's that? Oh, yeah, I guess she agrees with me." It sounds weird, and unclear. I can't say with certainty that this guy is doing the right thing. I'd have to know more about his specific situation.

[Napalm]

Legally, it would be assisting suicide.
But morally, it would be the right thing to do.

[Steve]

Yeah. See, I was thinking if she truly wants to die, then it's her decision. I mean, ultimately, she's going to live out her live in misery, facing rounds of chemotherapy and a never-ending sickness. It's more honourable than her committing suicide because mummy never loved her enough, right? So if she truly wants to end the suffering, it is her life, and ultimately her decision. And if her son wants to do that for her.. I can only imagine the pain for him. I mean, it is HIS mother and he's watching her get sicker and sicker, watching her suffer, so in a way.. assuming that his intentions were honourable, it's really unselfish of him to let alone let his mother host these thoughts, but even contemplate attempting her attain her goals. She'd find peace, but he'd be motherless.

Maybe I'm just sappy. But I have no problem with it..

[Confero]

These people have life rights. Who cares what the government, or other people think? Some outside jury has no understanding of these people's lives. Over the course of the past few years cancer spread from my mother's spine to her brain, and chemotherapy only worked to give her even more complications such as a bone disease. She passed away last February, though I had not seen her in a number of years because I came to the understanding she was slowly passing.

[Evonus]

Suicide is usually something that should be prevented, but if the person is going to die a terrible death if they aren't killed then I agree it's the right thing to do. The suicide law needs an if clause.

[cobweb]

well he doesn't even really have to HELP her.
assuming the medication(s) in question are taken orally, leaving them by her bedside and not being in the room should be enough to make sure her decision is her own and i'm not sure, but can't you then also escape the legal shit?

this is going to sound sort of insensitive, but if she's healthy enough to walk or get her ass to a computer i'm sure she could find an alternative non-disfiguring and minimally painful method of suicide that would take implication off her son. and overdosing on medication can potentially be very painful.

[Napalm]

Well she's entitled to end her life how she chooses. We aren't to judge.
Also, if he's near her at all at the time of suicide, he can't escape the legal shit.

[Steve]

I guess I should have clarified.

She's apparently bed-ridden in a hospital with an IV stuck in her. She's too sick to be at home and is probably in one of those creepy units where they stick people to die. I don't know much about hospitals, tbh, I avoid them like the plague. And yeah, a lot of medicines are painful ways to kill yourself, most of them do nasty things to your brain/bloodcells/cells. So I doubt even if he could pull it off, he'd get away with it. Because faced with the option, it'd be obvious someone helped her commit suicide as she's unable to do it herself.

[cobweb]

I guess I should have clarified.

She's apparently bed-ridden in a hospital with an IV stuck in her. She's too sick to be at home and is probably in one of those creepy units where they stick people to die. I don't know much about hospitals, tbh, I avoid them like the plague. And yeah, a lot of medicines are painful ways to kill yourself, most of them do nasty things to your brain/bloodcells/cells. So I doubt even if he could pull it off, he'd get away with it. Because faced with the option, it'd be obvious someone helped her commit suicide as she's unable to do it herself.

aha, well then even if she wants to die its a very large risk for him to be taking. Also, though i doubt the investigators/police would be quite so thorough checking but my understanding is that this was on the internet? that's incriminating in itself and he'd already be suspected because he'd have to actually do something very uh, hands on, to help her in a hospital

[wHat]

Euthanasia is legal in Switzerland, ive heard many a terminally ill person pay good money to go there with somebody willing to help them kill themselves. no legal crap.

[Slevin57]

I think asking somone to help you kill yourself is just too much of a burden to put on somone.

I know I would not want the responsibility to help kill somone I cared for. I mean think how horrible you would feel if you found out later that they might have lived.

[Napalm]

They would come back and you would be arrested for attempted murder?

[Slevin57]

They would come back and you would be arrested for murder?

Fixed?

[Shins]

If you truly want to help the person, the legal repercussions won't matter. If you have reservations, that's your way of knowing you're not okay with the action you're about to take.

[Crossed]

sadly sometimes theres diffrence between laws and human moral. my personal opinion if the person can't recover from an illness thats gonna kill the person anyway then it SHOULD be the doctors job to end the pain and suffering. both for the person her/himself and the family that must have a hard time knowing the person is suffering and just waiting to die :(

[Napalm]

Fixed?
Ghosts???

[Marlin]

Technically people do not haave the right do die. Speaking strictly legally were she to kill herself/ have someone kill her, the state could press charges upon the dead person. Most likely noone will do that, cause who is that big of a dick? In order for the child to assist her suicide he/she would have to do some serious research on dosages of medication and such, kind of like kevorkianesqe deal, but he was convicted so I would be extremely careful.

[Steve]

How do you not have the right to die? The most surest thing about life is that you'll die. And in desperation, it's not so hard to find the means to kill. I mean, how 'extensive' would this research have to be? People kill themselves at home all the time.

[Crossed]

My opinion is since you have right to live why not the right to die???
I think it's stupid for slowly dying or suffering people can't end their pains legally. But that's just my opinion.

[Napalm]

Euthanasia you homo's!
And it's illegal for a reason. Cos it counts as suicide and/or murder.

[Marlin]

It is ILLEGAL to kill yourself, therefore you do not have the right to die. And the research would not to be the ability to commit suicide it would be on the correct dosages of the medications that she is on which would allow her to die with the least amount of discomfort. Most of the time when somone kills themself they die painfully via strangualtion, bleeding to death, or unwanted effects due to overdosage of medication. In order to not suffer these effects, the person killing themself must know how to do it properly.

[Napalm]

Like jump out of an airplane without a parachute.

[Shins]

I think it's stupid for slowly dying or suffering people can't end their pains legally.

Well, if they do it right, it won't matter whether it was legal or not, yeah? And if they don't do it right, chances are, it was more of a "cry for help" situation.

In the case of the terminally ill, I support self-administer euthanasia completely. But it's a dicey area to allow an outside party to assist in the suicide, because it opens to flood gates for a new justification for killing someone: "Hey, it's what he/she wanted!"

And since the person in question is no longer available to say whether that's true or not... yeegh, messy.

This kind of thing is really hard to discuss in general hypotheticals. It really comes down the individual case and person.

[Evonus]

My opinion is since you have right to live why not the right to die???

In a situation where you are suffering or terminally ill I agree, but in other situations people are not always thinking clearly and sadly enough once you commit the act you can't figure out later that it was a stupid idea and reverse the act. That is why suicide is illegal.

[Shins]

It's also illegal since there's the problem that comes up with people who commit suicide in ways that could harm others (leaving car on train tracks, jumping off a building, even shooting oneself in the head, depending).

[Evonus]

It's also illegal since there's the problem that comes up with people who commit suicide in ways that could harm others (leaving car on train tracks, jumping off a building, even shooting oneself in the head, depending).

Not to mention who you leave behind.

[Steve]

It is ILLEGAL to kill yourself, therefore you do not have the right to die. And the research would not to be the ability to commit suicide it would be on the correct dosages of the medications that she is on which would allow her to die with the least amount of discomfort. Most of the time when somone kills themself they die painfully via strangualtion, bleeding to death, or unwanted effects due to overdosage of medication. In order to not suffer these effects, the person killing themself must know how to do it properly.

That's absurd. Why don't you go kill yourself and see what happens to you. Nothing! You're dead. If you want to die and you choose to do so, then you'll kill yourself and once you're dead nothing matters. And either way, if you're stupid enough NOT to know a decent way to kill yourself, that's your own problem if you suffer. And you know, I'd sure hope they'd do it right the first time. See, that would be when the law applied. If you attempted. One could attempt, I suppose; rather than kill one's self and get back to me if they'd like.

[Marlin]

In a normal at home situation it would be extremely easy to kill yourself, but they are not at home, they are in a hospital. Therefore its not as easy to kill someone as you may think. The simplest way would have to be a small puff of air to a major artery, preferably in the neck, though it would be hard to conceal the syringe. Its just hard to do cause its a hospital.