[petsetc]

Here is a link to a description of the purposed Florida Death With Dignity Act.
Please note all the requirements and timelines including the patient must self administer the drugs.

Death With Dignity in Florida | Nolo

[chrisinva]

Religious Groups’ Views on End-of-Life Issues | Pew Research Center - What an excellent, clear, informative resource with additionals links & references for more info. Thank you very much!

[Michael 61]

Originally Posted by airstreamingypsy

This is why people are leaving the churches in droves. Christianity is a cruel religion, the idea that you have come to terms with human suffering says it all.

I respectfully completely 100% disagree with you.

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by Michael 61

As a Bible-believing Christian, I believe in the sanctity of life - both the unborn and the elderly. I do believe (and have seen with my parents and relatives as they passed), that God gives Christians the strength and ability to endure the pain/struggles that often occur at the end of life.

Good luck with your choice..
Personally I would prefer lots of morphine or stronger drugs, but then I am not a believer.

[SallyB]

Originally Posted by Blackbird45

This is not hypothetical my wife died on Friday.
It was not unexpected she was under hospice care for weeks, but the final five days the only thing she was living on was morphine and oxygen.
She laid there barely beathing with her mouth open.
As far as I was concerned, she passed way before her last breath.
I don't know if she was in pain or not because she was long pass communication.
I was glad she passed because she did not need to go through this anymore.
I don't understand our society, we see our pets suffering and we put them to sleep to end their suffering, but we're perfectly find letting humans go through this agony.

I am so sorry for your loss.
I agree with you, we should be able to say enough is enough. When a horse breaks its leg, it is put down immediately no matter the value of the horse and yet humans are left to suffer.
Again, I am very sorry about your wife.

[Tvflguy]

Originally Posted by petsetc

Here is a link to a description of the purposed Florida Death With Dignity Act.
Please note all the requirements and timelines including the patient must self administer the drugs.

Death With Dignity in Florida | Nolo

THANK YOU for this link. I will be contacting our State Reps to Try to push this thru. Hopefully The Villages folks will do the same if you feel strongly about this as I do.

[Jerry101]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

You could never be a Christian then. The whole point of that religion is that a rabbi made a lot of statements that were unpopular to the local government, and riled up what amounts to a peace and love rally that really got under their skin. So they vilified him and flogged him over 100 times, then forced him to carry his own cross to the place of his death, where he was then nailed to the cross, his hands and feet bound, with a crown of thorns on his head, and made to die slowly, up there on that cross. He suffered as a sacrifice for the sins of everyone else.

And now we have all these christians glorifying this sacrifice with bloody-painted statues of jesus hanging from crosses over the bedrooms of America.

That's just Christianity. Other religions have similar.

It's why I reject the religiosity of my upbringing, but embrace the cultural, ethnic, and traditional aspects of Judiaism instead.

By faith Christians believe … the cross is empty … Jesus Christ did indeed die for our sins … he was buried … but God raised him from the dead … and He gave US the great commission to tell that story! He will come again in glory … and EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess that he is LORD!

… that is Christianity!

[Barkriver]

And a Howard Johnson's!

[SusanStCatherine]

A relative of mine living in Florida was diagnosed with end stage pancreatic cancer. She decided against chemo. Her doctor would not prescribe medical marajuana for some reason and I found this rediculous. Someone obtained and gave her the medical marajuana. She seemed so much more comfortable and even happy on it. She even lived longer than the doctor said she would - don't think he ever knew. Be your own health care advocate, do research, try different things, and don't be afraid to switch doctors.

[Blueblaze]

Originally Posted by Tvflguy

THANK YOU for this link. I will be contacting our State Reps to Try to push this thru. Hopefully The Villages folks will do the same if you feel strongly about this as I do.

I would fully support this law, if it included a provision that doctors must never be required or coerced into doing it. Since it apparently has no provision for a doctor's conscience, I could not support it as written.

Even with the provision, it will become a slippery slope to routine euthanasia, exactly like we do with animals. We are not animals.

As I look back on all the pets in my life, I realize that the majority of those lives ended with euthanasia, and I can't honestly say for certain that none of them were for my own convenience. Our last dog was merely very old, and probably merely suffered the same arthritic pains we all feel all the time. He was on a lot of pain meds. He seemed very sad and tired of living, but I have often wondered what his answer would have been if I could have asked him if he wanted to die. He adored me, and I worry that his answer might have been that any pain was worth another minute with me, just holding his head.

If we do this, we must go into it knowing that it is a slippery slope. We must resolve to prevent it from ever becoming anything like the 12 horses killed at the Kentucky Derby this year, for merely having an injury that required more money to fix than the horse was worth -- or even like the involuntary release from pain that I gave to my dog Shiner.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

You could never be a Christian then. The whole point of that religion is that a rabbi made a lot of statements that were unpopular to the local government, and riled up what amounts to a peace and love rally that really got under their skin. So they vilified him and flogged him over 100 times, then forced him to carry his own cross to the place of his death, where he was then nailed to the cross, his hands and feet bound, with a crown of thorns on his head, and made to die slowly, up there on that cross. He suffered as a sacrifice for the sins of everyone else.

And now we have all these christians glorifying this sacrifice with bloody-painted statues of jesus hanging from crosses over the bedrooms of America.

That's just Christianity. Other religions have similar.

It's why I reject the religiosity of my upbringing, but embrace the cultural, ethnic, and traditional aspects of Judiaism instead.

Well I consider myself a Christian, leaning towards Judaism, or perhaps nondenominational, or ecumenical. I studied the nature of God for years from many different beliefs and I think each religion has a bit of understanding of it, but none seem to know everything. In my years of study and search I did not find a cruel God, a person or thing that is less kind than we human beings can be. I believe people in the past and present try their best to understand the Creator and in the process they interpret things and come up with untenable ideas, attributing it to the Creator.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by Blackbird45

This is not hypothetical my wife died on Friday.
It was not unexpected she was under hospice care for weeks, but the final five days the only thing she was living on was morphine and oxygen.
She laid there barely beathing with her mouth open.
As far as I was concerned, she passed way before her last breath.
I don't know if she was in pain or not because she was long pass communication.
I was glad she passed because she did not need to go through this anymore.
I don't understand our society, we see our pets suffering and we put them to sleep to end their suffering, but we're perfectly find letting humans go through this agony.

I see that as a problem, one that several of our current religions don’t seem to address with compassion.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by Michael 61

As a Bible-believing Christian, I believe in the sanctity of life - both the unborn and the elderly. I do believe (and have seen with my parents and relatives as they passed), that God gives Christians the strength and ability to endure the pain/struggles that often occur at the end of life.

Yes, but when you are in agony it is not sanctity of life it is unusually cruel punishment. We don’t do that to prisoners we put in isolation.

[Karmanng]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Agree totally. Often that is the last truly informed decision a person can make, and it seems criminal to take that opportunity away.

Mom did it right. At 85 he was a recent cancer survivor (surgery took a lot out of her), living with a bad heart (triple bypass and a pacemaker) and severe arthritis and accompanying ambulation problems meant that she was basically non-ambulatory except for a few steps now and again. Fortunately her mind was unimpaired. One day she took a tumble and suffered a compound fracture of both leg bones just above the ankle. She knew she'd never walk again, and on top of her other issues she decided she'd had enough. She and my sister, whom she lived with at the time, discussed everything and Mom decided to call the pacemaker company and have them turn it off. Let nature take it's course. Next morning, she was dead.

I hope I have those kinds of guts and clarity of thinking, when it becomes my turn.

WOW first sorry for your loss and wow that is kinda extreme to turn it off!

[kendi]

Originally Posted by bsloan1960

I worked in hospitals and nursing homes my entire career. I've watched perhaps a thousand people die of terminal illnesses- some of which were horrific.

The battle cry of opponents of Assisted Suicide is to claim that "Effective Pain Management" will give the person a comfortable journey through their battle. The only times I've seen Effective Pain Management is in the final days or hours of life. Doctors are reluctant to give people adequate doses of pain killers because OTHER advocates, such as Social Workers, scrutinize their decisions and claim that people who are "Over Medicated" are in a daze and this affects the quality of their life.

Some oppose assisted suicide for religious reasons- If your religion tells you to suffer in horrible pain then go ahead. But your religion should dictate how I should bring an end to my agony.

I've watch patients slowly suffocate to death. I've had countless patients beg for more medication, and some beg me to kill them. This is the real world of hospitals and nursing homes folks. It isn't like the television ads and brochures. When you drive by a nursing home you should be aware that there is likely horrible suffering inside.

The avg doc does not have the skill to control the pain. Plus they put their license in jeopardy to prescribe doses that high. Palliative care professionals are specially trained to know how to alleviate the pain. And you don’t have to be in hospice to receive this care. Might have to search hard for a good palliative care doc though.