from the Irish Independent
Saturday September 04 2010
In Ian O'Doherty's impassioned piece on euthanasia (Irish Independent, September 3) he touches on a number of crucial issues regarding death and dignity.
The crux of his argument seems to be that there should be a human right to euthanasia in order to alleviate human suffering in certain end-of-life circumstances.
Thankfully, there isn't such a human right; in fact, the contrary is the case. The right to life contained within article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was enshrined partly as a response to the existence of euthanasia within German society at the time.
In reality, what right to die means is the supposed right of an innocent person to be killed, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. There is no dignity in an innocent person being killed by physicians whose job it is to heal and protect human life.
Where euthanasia is legalized, as in the Netherlands, studies show that involuntary euthanasia is forced upon vulnerable patients as a result of a lax attitude towards the right to life.
The same lack of respect is evident in the Dignitas clinic that O'Doherty mentions, where human ashes are, allegedly, routinely dumped in a nearby lake. The clinic is currently under investigation by the Swiss authorities.
Modern pain relief has ensured that physical suffering is minimized for terminally ill patients. The main form of pain such patients go through is, understandably, emotional and psychological.
The appropriate response to psychological suffering is counseling and care.
Euthanasia in these circumstances fixes the problem by using the death of the patient to end their suffering, rather than by caring for the patient through treating the cause of their psychological suffering.
There would be no suffering in the world if we killed all the people, but there would be no human rights either.
Thomas Finegan
Maynooth, Co Kildare
Irish Independent
http://newsdeskinternational.wordpre...ashes-in-lake/
TOM
please read the above link.............it brings into question whether organized euthanasia is the DIGNITY.........THAT SO MANY POOR SOULS CRAVE......
It is so very true, in that if someone is determined to end their life they ultimately will do so.......
What really bothers me is what is justified....................
Yes I understand the concept of terminal pain...........I watched my father die with stomach cancer............and sat next to a lady[IRIS] for 12 weeks by her hospital bedside and watched her slowly die from a healthy 8 stone, to flesh and bone. [I had supported her for 5 years up to this point] She had learning disabilities and also had schizophrenia, she developed a bowel blockage and her abdomen swelled up like a balloon.
Whilst in hospital....the doctors soon discovered her mental health condition.......their answer, to her plight was to wait and see if the swelling subsided.........[anyone else would have been immediately operated on, and the damaged bowel area removed, and a colostomy bag fitted...they ruled this out for IRIS....because they said she did not have the mental capacity to cope with the bag.........they gave no thought that she was cared for 24 hours a day...and she would be supported through this dilemma...MY GOD she lived a life for 7 years [in an asylum prior to being re-housed into the community] with a prolaspe from her behind, which was surgically repaired as soon as she moved out of that hell hole.
They eventually agreed to help remove the mass of swelling with repeated enemas, and the drug you receive to bring you out of an anesthetized state, which shocks the body.......this relieved the situation for three hours until the swelling retuned........she was put on a drip and remained that way for the next twelve weeks.........slowly shriveling away into a skeleton with skin. [A nurse told me off the record...the reason why an operation, and colostomy bag where not carried out, was in her words... IRIS WAS SEEN AS A DRAIN ON RESOURCES.........NOT A SUITABLE CANDIDATE.........[the former comment was what she meant]
A clear case in my eyes of enforced euthanasia..........but hell what do I know...
And on the subject of suicide.................... below is interesting reading as well.
STATISTICS ON BULLYING
Sonia Sharp, an expert on bullying, said in a speech for Brighton and Hove Education Authority UK
1 in 2 students experience occasional bullying during any school term
1 in 4 students in primary school are bullied more than once or twice at least in any term (so they are more than twice as likely to be bullied as those in secondary schools)
1 in 10 in secondary school are bullied more than once or twice at least in any term (some research says one third of secondary students are bullied during the course of the school year)
1 in 10 primary aged students are persistently and frequently bullied - possibly every day
Some facts from other experts:
Between 15 and 25 children every year commit suicide because they are being bullied (there may be more we don't know about, and many more than this attempt it because bullying has made them so unhappy.
More than a quarter of students get threats of violence whilst at school, and half of these threats have been carried out.
Attacks on boys accounts for 75% of these incidents.
Around 10% of children have missed school because of the violence.
Up to 40% of secondary school students feel that their teachers are unaware of the bullying which goes on.
About 17% of calls to ChildLine are about bullying. For five years running it's been the most common reason people call
More 12 year olds call ChildLine about bullying than any other age group
Suicide is not the answer, but desperate times can lead desperate solutions.............no age barrier ..........
David