• Question: What is your opinion on legalising assisted suicide and why?

    Asked by BenRobinson to vediacan, Richard, Lesley, Laura, Alex on 23 Jun 2015. This question was also asked by Clazza.
    • Photo: Richard Prince

      Richard Prince answered on 23 Jun 2015:

      Hi Ben,
      People who are terminally ill and in great pain can already choose to commit suicide by refusing medical care and refusing food. So long as they are rational and understand what they are doing, then doctors cannot intervene. However, this can be a slow and painful way to die. I think that the first duty of a doctor is to do what is best for the patient. If suicide is the best thing, then they should be allowed to help if they are willing to. There should be no requirement for doctors to be involved, but I think it should be legal. Of course, there needs to be a good framework safeguarding the interests of vulnerable patients. Other European countries e.g. Switzerland have managed to work out how to set this up, so I think we should be capable of setting up something that works in the same way.
      Best wishes
      Richard

    • Photo: Vedia Can

      Vedia Can answered on 23 Jun 2015:

      Dear BenRobinson,

      Very good question.

      I am against legalising assisted suicide because I feel that doctors, scientists and nurses are here to ensure we have the best care available for any illness, and to ensure we overcome an illness and achieve recovery. Suicide is not the answer (this is my personal opinion on the matter).

      Best Wishes,

      Vedia

    • Photo: Laura Newton

      Laura Newton answered on 24 Jun 2015:

      Hey Ben!

      I think that assisted suicide should be legalised. Mostly because if I end up in such a situation that I can no longer live properly or know that a painful end is coming and there’s nothing that can be done I would rather be able to go peacefully than have to go through a horrible and messy death. Plus the sooner I died the less financial burden I would be on the health service and the less emotional burden I would be on family, friends and carers. I’m sure there are many other people that feel the same way. As long as there are proper safeguards in place (like there are for all other treatments) to protect the patient and the medical staff then why not let people die if that’s what they want to do? We are all going to anyway. And on that bombshell let’s end the answer!

      Thanks for your question!
      Laura

Comments

  • Photo: Richard

    Richard commented on :

    The Hippocratic oath (or rather the Declaration of Geneva version of it) that all doctors swear when they enter the medical profession, states “I will maintain the utmost respect for human life, from the time of its conception”. I think you have to interpret this consistently: you cannot argue that abortion is ok and assisted suicide is not. Either you are against both, or you should take the stance that “respect” means you need to do what is best for the patient. I would say this is a lot easier to interpret in the case of assisted suicide, where the patient is making a choice. In an abortion, you could argue that there are two patients (mother and child) whose best interests may differ (not always though). That is a much more difficult choice for the doctor and for the woman. Society gets round this issue by legally defining a foetus as not being a person but there are many people who disagree with this interpretation.
    Leaving aside the legal and ethical arguments, I would personally like to have the choice of ending my own life, with the help of a doctor, just as I would like the choice of an abortion if I were a woman. I am not sure what I would choose in either case.