very interesting topic and one I have thought about many times.
Looks like Oregon is ahead of the game! Great link thanks for posting it!
I agree with you Faust. I think that we should be able to end our own lives if we feel we haved lived to our fullest and no longer want to suffer or put our family and friends through that suffering. I know that if I were to develop cancer or some other terminal illness I would not want to fight to survive. I would take my own life. I would not want my family and friends to see me as a small, helpless person who has to rely on someone/something for total support (breathing, eating, bathing etc.).
I watched my grandfather die last winter. He had lung cancer and a few other cancers and stopped treatments so he could die peacefully at home. My mom and my aunt stayed with him 24/7 to care for him and look after him. A nurse came out a few days a week to check on him and bathe him. This lasted about 6 weeks till he finally passed. The strain that it put on my mom and aunt was unbelieveable. And that was only 6 weeks. I can not imagine what it would be like to have to take care of me when I am that helpless for a much greater amount of time. I don't want to be a burden and in my eyes I would be.
I think we will all know when we have had enough and when our bodies are just done fighting and our minds as well. I know I am not near the end now, though I am facing some new challenges in life and things to think about. But I know I will overcome them eventually. I have thought about taking my own life a few times before but with help from friends, and eventually anti-depressants I snapped out of it. I will know when I am not healthy enough to live the way I want to live. I don't see lying in a bed, barely being able to move or talk or function as living. I see that as suffering and when I get to that point I will decide whether or not I want to continue to "live" like that or to end the suffering and move on.
When someone we love who is suffering finally passes naturally we are all upset but we always say "they are no longer suffering". Well why can't that same thought be used when the person who is suffering takes their own life. They aren't suffering anymore so let them go in peace.
Ok I have rambled and I am sure I could ramble more, but its time to clean the house!
