Doctor-assisted suicide ban to be appealed in B.C.

[alp227]

Source: CBC

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association will appeal a high court ruling that upholds Canada's ban on doctor-assisted suicide — and is urging that the wheels of justice should turn quickly.

The legal rights group says the outcome of the appeal is of extreme urgency to gravely ill Canadians, such as multiple sclerosis patient Elayne Shapray.

Shapray has filed an affidavit as the association seeks to expedite the hearing process at the Supreme Court of Canada.

The 67-year-old grandmother wants the right to have a physician-assisted death before she becomes too horribly trapped in her own body.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/doctor-assisted-suicide-ban-to-be-appealed-in-b-c-1.2287624

[idwiyo]

1. k&r Hope they win.

[davidpdx]

2. Me too

It's been the law in Oregon since it passed in 1994. They have attempted to repeal it and overturn it in the courts and it has repeatedly been upheld. Washington passed it 5 years ago. With the exception of one issue, Oregon is one of the most progressive states in the country.

[Victor_c3]

3. Even as a child in the 80s when Dr. Kevorkian was going at it I never understood why it was illegal

If someone wants to die on their own terms, let them. It seems the most humane and caring thing a person could do in certain situations.

[moriah]

4. My father died in 2009 from HIV.

He received excellent hospice care and pain management. When the end finally came and the skyrocketing calcium levels from the tumor leaching calcium from his bones made him delirious, they sedated him with a benzo pump along with his morphine pump... and he was given the maximum possible dosages for his weight to both, as he'd told me the thing he feared most was dying in pain. He vocalized that fear, too, before it got to that point.

If nothing else, legislation needs to make sure compassionate end of life care is not denied to patients out of fear of breaking a law against assisted suicide. Some patients need massive doses of opiates to accomplish the things in life they want to accomplish before the end (quality of life is the focus) and by the time they're end-stage, they're already very tolerant. Also, some patients like my father cannot handle Haldol or other neuroleptics routinely given for agitation and delirium without significant uncomfortable extra-pyramidal side effects -- if a doctor is afraid to give an appropriate medication to reduce suffering because of worries that the combination could kill the patient, it could mean many people dying in pain unnecessarily who *aren't* seeking "assisted suicide".

Doctors should be able to present patients and their families with all the options and let them make the decision. It's their lives, and their death.

[GreenStormCloud]

5. Why is a doctor needed to assist?

I firmly believe in the right of a person to end their life when they choose to do so. I just don't understand the need for a doctor to participate.

If I should develop a painful, fatal illness that I want to terminate early, that is easy to do. Buy a bottle of nitrogen gas, hook up a tube from the bottle to a face mask, put on mask, turn on the nitrogen, in a few minutes you are gone, completely painless, no doctor needed.

[u4ic]

6. Because many who would opt for it are either too ill

or their limbs/body cannot function. The family can be around, goodbyes can be said, and it can be done in a humane way.

It can also be a slow, agonizing death (or horrible life afterwards) if someone underestimates what they need to do, or it doesn't go to plan.

[GreenStormCloud]

7. Breathing pure nitrogen is 100% effective. No perscription needed, no doctor needed. N/T

[u4ic]

8. Read my post again

It is much more complex issue than getting a bottle of nitrogen to off yourself.

[GreenStormCloud]

9. What complexities that require a doctor?

[nomorenomore08]

10. Just that not everyone can do it by themselves, that's all. I don't think the point is any more

complicated than that.

[GreenStormCloud]

11. So it requires an MD to buy nitrogen and rig a mask?

A family member can do that. Still don't see the need for an MD.

People are reacting like committing suicide is a difficult medical procedure. People have been doing it forever.

[wordpix]

17. family members do not want to be part of that

Trust me, my mom is 88+ with advanced Alzheimer's. If someone gave me a mask to put over her face, I wouldn't be able to do it, even though she could die any day now, has run through almost all her money, and her quality of life is not good. She is still dear old mom to me, although she is not who she used to be. Now if she had arranged physician-assisted suicide when she was in her right mind, I could sit by her side for that.

This drip, drip, drip of an Alzheimer's patient losing her mind along with the infirmity of old age is a terrible thing to witness year after year. Although the final goodbye is coming soon, I still would not be able to hasten it for my mother.

I definitely need to make a living will to ensure I get PAS if I get Alzheimer's. The question is, at what point would I want to be put under? You just can't choose your time unless you're mentally competent.

[u4ic]

12. Can you read?

I already pointed some out in my previous post.

I'm sure you'd be proud of this couple:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/10/29/elderly_man_and_woman_dead_in_citys_west_end_coroner_investigating.html

There is a reason physician assisted suicide is "dying with dignity".

They were mobile. Most PAS's wouldn't be. And assisting someone with their suicide in Canada currently will net you jail time.

This is not new, its an ongoing issue here. Back in the early 90's, Sue Rodriguez, also from BC, had ALS, could not use her limbs, swallowing and talking were an issue; she was dying a slow death. She took her plea for dr assisted suicide to the Supreme Court, and the ruling was upheld against PAS by a narrow margin.

And just before his death a month or so ago, a well known Canadian doctor made this video: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sars-doctor-donald-low-s-posthumous-plea-for-assisted-suicide-1.1866332

This brings the taboo topic of death in our culture into the open, allows us to actually talk about it rather than shove it under the carpet. It also sets a new paradigm for the medical community, who are taught to think that a death is a failure.

Facing yours, or a loved ones terminal illness is traumatic enough, never mind watching or enduring the pain/suffering - especially if the person wants to die quickly and get it over with, instead of lingering.

[GreenStormCloud]

13. Can YOU read?

I have already said that I am for a person's right to end their life when they want to.

I just don't see why it would take a MD to buy the nitrogen and rig up a mask. A family member or friend can do it. The law for family assisted or doctor assisted are the same. Your argument is that only a doctor can provide such help, and that simply isn't true.

The problem with any assisted suicide is making sure that it is genuine and not disguised euthanasia.

[u4ic]

14. You just answered my question:

No.

Because many who would opt for it are either too ill or their limbs/body cannot function

assisting someone with their suicide in Canada currently will net you jail time.

If you actually looked into the issue, you'll have the answer to your last question. The person who is suffering makes the decision. It's not that your aunt Elsie goes into the hospital, the powers that be/death panel (none of the latter here) decide she should go and they 'euthanize' her.

[GreenStormCloud]

15. Actually, I was thinking it would work something like this:

Parent has a painful, fatal, illness, or other dire situation. He/She want to be released from life. Family material buys the material and rigs up the mask. A policeperson, or EMT, or nurse is asked to come to the home- non emergency. They ask the person a standard set of questions to make sure that they are aware of what is happening and that it is their desire to die. A very easy to operate valve, or button, or other device is placed under their hand which they operate. Good-bye. No MD needed.

They have to have enough metal abilities to make their desires known. If they are mentally unable to express their will, then it would become murder.

[u4ic]

16. First of all, we're discussing Canada

Going to a Dr isn't a big deal here. Its normal, its covered by provincial insurance, no questions asked. Many people have a living will with their doctor. Birth to death healthcare.

Secondly, most people would not want to have that hanging over them. Whether or not you're seeing a loved one in pain or suffering, how many would actually want to administer that fatal dose? A death is tough enough, never mind causing that death, even if it puts someone out of their suffering. It avoids unnecessary strain within the family. And most who are suffering wouldn't want to put a loved one through that.

Even pet owners go to the vet to put their animals down, how many shoot them? Its only when services aren't available or affordable that those measures are still used.

It would actually be easier the way you described, to off someone vulnerable than having a Dr involved.

[wordpix]

18. good point about the pets - I couldn't have hastened my cat's death myself even though

she stopped eating and drinking, was diagnosed with stomach tumors and was 15 y.o., pretty old for a cat. Still, she was my "baby" and how would I have killed her? I took her to the vet, of course. It was totally painless and peaceful, she didn't make a sound or movement, she just slept on.