This is the reason....

I would imagine that if someone feels that way, then it's because it's the taking of an innocent life.

Now if you're directing that statement at me, I have said on several occasions on this board that as long as the abortion occurs before the baby is viable outside of the womb, then I'm for it.

I will never get behind late term abortions.

 

The same could be said in reverse....

"I will never understand how someone on one hand wants to outlaw the death penalty but is gung-ho about abortion."

And not all killings are murder...murder is to willfully take an innocent person's life.
The DP is not murder, just like accidental killing is not murder,
or taking your own life is not murder
or mercy killing is not murder
or doctor-assisted suicide is not murder.

 

So agree with you here. Some murders are so egregious, your penalty is forfeiting your own life.

 

Then why do doctors who participate in suicide lose their license and go to jail

 

i know, right?

although 'assisted suicide' for terminally-ill patients is becoming legal in more states as time passes by

it's all about the intersection of religion and government

you'd assume that if someone wanted to die, that would be their right to go in a peaceful manner, under the direct supervision of healthcare professionals

it's your body, after all

but you got all this religious stuff about obligations to God, where your soul goes if you willingly commit suicide, and all that shit

imagine how weird this country would be if all the states legalized the shit, and handed out meds to anyone wishing to pass on

 

I think suicide would rise if it did. People will do anything to make the pain stop.

 

pretty much

they're letting you slide if you're terminally ill and going to die anyway...like in Oregon (and a few others), where a Dr can legally prescribe you meds to make you die sooner

that's about it tho

you still can't go to a Dr and be like 'i lost my job, this is some bullshit, gimmie XYZ so i can die in my sleep'

it's an interesting issue definitely in terms of who has power over your life

 

Because I know the law to know that it's legal in several States. That's why I wrote it.

Physician-assisted suicide in the United States is legal in the states of Oregon, Washington, and Vermont.

In the state of Montana, the Baxter v. Montana (2009) court decision created a defense for a physician who is prosecuted should he or she be charged in assisting a suicide.

More States to come, btw...

 

Unfortunately it depends where they are Bookie most countries will seperate sex offenders from the general prision population, to protect the kiddie fiddlers.
My Aunt was unfortunate enough to be a counsellor working with sex offenders in a high security prision and she had to get herself away from it permnanently even though they have regular long term breaks for sex offender workers so they don't become de-sensitised it was just to much for her, after years of it she found herself geting very angry while on the job and entirely unconvinced of their ability to be rehabilitated.

I personally think any kind of sex act against a child is worthy of life imprisionment no chance of parole.

 

Personally I don't think most sex offenders can be rehabilitated. The urge to have sex doesn't go away no matter how many shrinks and therapists counsel you, and once your brain pairs sexual arousal with deviant or criminal behavior, you have a person who should never be allowed on the street again.

 

I couldn't agree more. That behavior is too deviant to be allowed back in society, which is why I can't understand how this guy only got SEVEN YEARS for what he did.

Bug, your aunt is a very noble woman for doing what she did, and I can't say I blame her for having to leave the profession completely. That would be an extremely hard job to have for long periods of time.

 

Because, unfortunately, humans aren't allowed to "die with dignity". We have to keep ourselves alive no matter what until our broken bodies finally give out, after days, weeks, months, years of extreme pain.

It's ridiculous. Terminal patients should be allowed to end their pain legally.

I am happy that more states are FINALLY coming to that realization. There is more dignity in letting them out of their pain than watching them slowly die a painful death.

Quality vs quantity of life...I'd choose quality.

 

I'd wager it had more to do with cost cutting than actually caring about people.

 

Actually cost issues will arise when considering assisted suicide, I agree that someone has a right to die painless at a time of their choosing.

But here we have an issue now with something called the "care pathway" assisted suicide is not legal here in the UK, so you have consultants putting the elderly on starvation and what not, without informing familys or even the patient themselves.
Criminal I think but apparently legal and being piloted in many different areas.
Even without the care pathway it's happening anyway.


Picture this my Nan is 88 she had a stroke last July, up untill then she was a strong matriarch of our family, never a burden.

When recovering from her stroke she was put onto a concoction of drugs one of which was 40mg of simvastin and *****difill can't remember full name but mixed they caused severe Myopathy and organ failure even with as low a dose as 20mg, after she had her stroke (I was there, I called the ambulance) by the time we got to the hospital I could literally see her recovering, bouncing back so to speak. We were so relieved

anyway after a few days in hospital (why a few days? because the stroke team doesn't work on weekends) she got worse and lost all her strength again, she hadn't had another stroke she was poisoned.
When confronted with our findings the consultant said in all fairness God decides the outcome of our Nan's life expectancy and lectured us on her quality of life.

Her quality of life is fine now some bugger isn't trying to kill her off.

My point is that although I agree with sick peoples rights to choose, every system is open to abuse and the situation with my Nan scared me as to whether we should legalise it here.

 

That is messed up. I'm glad your Grandma is okay now.

Assisted suicide needs to be decided by the person who is going to go through it or if they're completely incapacitated, then the family of the person, but it shouldn't be left up to the caregivers (hospitals, nurses, doctors, etc) to take matters into their own hands. Damn.

There needs to be some sort of audio/video/written consent before anything like that should be performed.

 

That's a given in my head as well, but my Nan situation was a wake up call to what could happen if we legalised it here and who would enforce the rules around it.
It was just one consultant, the nurses and support team were all great, her GP is great but just that one man :smt012

 

Riveting read!

Completely agree. The 2005 emotionally-charged Terri Schiavo life-support saga/case highlighted the need to get it on the record officially.

 

Way ahead of you there, little missy!!!

 

I think my comment went over your head. The problem with the death penalty is that it is not black and white. People can easily put an innocent person to death. That's why I think it is a stupid statement to agree to disagree. You very well know that we have a fallible system. That's why there shouldn't be a death penalty and yet you manage to agree to disagree. Not every case as it seems and not ever jury judge and or prosecutor is an angel.


Everyone has their opinion of what they feel is unequivocal. Problem is when you are the innocent one and the prosecutor believes the evidence is unequivocal and wants to fry you like bacon. That's when you see the issue.

 

Your comment didn't go over my head. I'm well aware of the position you hold on the death penalty and I don't agree that it needs to be completely off the table, thus, the agree to disagree statement.

DNA testing, GPS tracking systems, cell phone tower pings, etc are all ways to bring guilty people to justice that we didn't have at our disposal even a few short years ago.

Is it perfect? Nope. Nothing is perfect. There is always error. But with new technologies being made available on a near daily basis, that margin of error is getting smaller and smaller.

Also, I don't believe there is room for ambiguous gray areas when we're talking about something being unequivocal.