'People with dementia should be able to end their lives if they feel they are a burden to others or to the NHS, according to a respected ethicist...Baroness Mary Warnock'
'Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, strongly criticised the peer's comments.
"Lady Warnock demonstrates a shocking ignorance when espousing her highly insensitive view that people with dementia are 'wasting people’s lives' and may have a 'duty to die. ' [BBC News 19/9/08]
"Lady Warnock demonstrates a shocking ignorance when espousing her highly insensitive view that people with dementia are 'wasting people’s lives' and may have a 'duty to die. ' [BBC News 19/9/08]
- Are dementia sufferers an unacceptable drain on medical and family resources?
- When, if ever, should a person feel a 'duty to die'?
- Should dementia sufferers be valued differently to other people?
- Should euthanasia be legalised in the UK?
19 comments:
a person with dementia is still a person, but only to a matter of degree. the fact remains that with a diminished existance and lowered personhood qualities a human may feel less of a person and the option to end their lives is all that's left to them. a personal choice which must be taken by themselves and not be pressured by others either way.
I believe if poeple feel that they are ready to die and accept their fate then no-one should be able to take the option of euthanasia away from them. although a life may be ending, a person's soul can carry on and once again walk amoung us.
Graham says: "It depends on the level of dementia, now delete the bit that says i said it" - transcribed by Joe.
Joe wonders: "If the concept of a 'responsibilty to die' will be an awful further burden to bear by the sufferer of dementia. Pro-choice much?"
I think it is absurd to suggest that inconvenience is a greater burden than someone's death and to suggest sufferers of any kind should have a right to stop inconveniencing carers is absurd. I think there is some case for optional euthanasia in certain cases of dimished personhood but if we are to argue characteristics such as rationality have been reduced is it right to give these persons suhc power over their lives??
I think euthanasia should be made legal because its your choice, if someone wanted to die that much they could just go to special euthanasia clinics in countrys where it is legal. Ashleigh.
I don't think a person, even a diminished person, should ever feel the duty to die.
I think there should only be extreme cases when euthanasia is allowed, because there are some situations where the patient can't be helped, and it could be seen as unfair to keep them suffering when they just want to die.
I agree with Sean: is it right to give diminished persons so much responsibility over their lives?
I think that euthanasia should be made legal, because as a person you have your own rights, and i think they should have the power to decide whether they want to die or not; it is not for us to decide how people live their lives, and if we can see they are in pain and suffering, then we should give them that choice.
chloe
I think that euthanasia should be legalised in the UK, but that thier should be strict controls on it in order to insure that it is not abbused. I don't think that anyone should be engouraged to die, and the idea that society should view some people as a drain or resorces is absurd. The mentality that this would encourage would be totally contradictory to the domocratic society that the weston world strives for.
People with dementia i think still have their physical continuity but no longer have their original mental characteristics. Therefore we have to ask which characteristics of personhood they still have. I do not believe that they are still rational and therefore i would have to agree that in this state should we be letting them make there own decisions about their life and the ending of said life. I think that if their quality of life is so bad and they can still say and decide the want to die then maybe we should exept that but this said if they can still decide that, then they may not be classed by some in as bad enough to take that action yet. People with dementia however can be so far in their own world that they may have some quality of life within themselfs that we can not possible know about and how are we to then judge what they feel if there is no way of them comunicating with us. This said, we as outsiders have no right to decide whether a persons life should end.
It seems appropriate that a general, non-disease specific and astutely-regimented legalisation of euthanasia should be brought to the UK.
This is not to say that I don't find the idea of a "duty to die" repugnant, a general legalisation would in fact equate to the reverse of this. It would give the freedom to choose unaffected by society's pressures. Disallowing euthanasia is equally restrictive, if not more so, as allowing it and prejudicially dictating the groups at which it is aimed.
However, the idea of dementia sufferers as a “burden” and that they should feel any greater obligation to die than anyone else is reprehensible beyond any doubt, as it is the sufferers’ condition and their decision as to how they are affected by it, which should be respected regardless of their diminished state. Therefore, euthanasia should not be restricted to any particular condition, as this would be passively stating that society places less value on persons who are in some sense diminished along these ridiculously restricted guidelines. For example, a person who is “conventional” in every aspect and unaffected by any condition should have an equal right to die as a dementia-sufferer.
But, granted, an extremely in-depth psychological study would have to be undertaken, to determine, for example, whether the individual in question was being bullied into this decision - the individual would have to posses a clear level of autonomy (which in the advanced stages of dementia would probably result in disallowance, unless they had stated something to the contrary in anticipation of the disease’s advancement) and be utterly resolute in their decision.
Will.
Euthinasisa (or however it is spelt) is one of those problematic things; some people have the idea that it really is murder, others believe it's helping to fufil someone elses wishes - either way, it's complicated.
I believe that people suffering from Dementia should be treated differently to people without the condition. It's not becasue they are "wasting lives", but simply becasue they arn't able to function without assistance. This may well make them want to die...but then one could raise the quesiton - are they fully self aware anymore? Do they even understand what they are, who they are, and what they are doing?
My honest opinion is, it should be the families decision, with doctor input, weather or not they should be allowed euthenasia. After all, the person with dementia will be dead - it wont effect them after that at all...but the family will be affected.
Now for the harsh part of my answer - I do feel in some cases dementia sufferers are a waste of medical sources. For exmaple, my great grandmother had dementia settling in, and to be honest, I didn't see the point in her being alive anymore. She didn't know who anyone else was bar her daughter - but she forgot her most days too...
Is someone who can't question their excistance really a person anymore?
Oh, and if this essay dosn't make sense, appologies, my stream of thought is a bit off today.
I think with this whole topic you've simply got to look into yourself. If you wanted to die, if you personally felt that there was no real reason for you to live wouldn't you want to die?
After all its your life, your choice.
Now if the person is unable to make any output to the world is their any justifiable reason to keep their existence?
The only thing left is the family/friends of the person, clinging on to an image of a person they liked. But surely they are just prolonging the fact that eventually this person is going to die and they are no longer going to be able to converse with them.
Essentially they are the living dead.
A body without an active mind is just a body. We don't have enough resources to keep the bodies with active minds alive so why sacrifice the active minds?
But on the flip side if the person is clearly mentally unstable then possibly don't let them kill themselves.
I don't know its a touchy, subjective topic. It really depends on the person. All I know is if I really wanted to die, I would find a way of dieing.
I think that it is up to the person to decide whether they die or not. I think everyone has the right to die, no matter if they are terminally ill or not. This is unless they are mentally ill, and do not know the meaning of life and death.
any person deserves the right to decide whether or not that they can die and or be killed even if they are mentally ill it is still thier right as a human being
Really, as a person with dementia approaches the end of their life, and possibly possesses less and less personal identity, they may wish to use euthenasia as a final, declarative act of their identity, "This is me, I am choosing to die." I think there could potentially be a lot of comfort from the option of dying as yourself and not what the disease has made you.
It's abominable to consider it a "duty to die", though. It cheapens the person's life, and takes the option of choosing to die away from you. If that were the case, your last stand of your individuality becomes subsumed by state policy, which does nothing but make the situation worse.
If one signs legal documentation declaring that they would prefer to die than suffer the haunting results of Dimentia then this is slightly more reliable than a mentally impaired dimentia sufferer deciding they would like to die, and then changing there mind- However neither option is comfortable nor entirely correct.
Someone who had agreed that they would like to die if they become a victim of dimentia, may actually be able to live happily and comfortably if they do get it.
Tecnological developments mean that there is more chance of this condition becoming better treated as opposed to worse. For this reason a law should not be passed to make euthanasisa an acceptable escape for Dimentica sufferers. This creates a neagative atmopshere surrounding the issue that is not so serious for many victims.
Research should definately be carried out so that we know whether a Dimentia patient saying they want to die is a medically sane position to do so.
Everyone should have the right to die. If they are in pain and do not want to carry on thier lives how they are, then there is no point in them existing purely due to other peoples opinion. A person only knows whats best for them and what they want, it is therefore up to them.
It should be the persons right whether to die or not. Nobody should interfear with the persons rights and they have the right to choose. Just like in abortion if you were pro life the foetus has rights even though it is not as developed as the mother or other people.
If a person with dementia lives in a home where people care for them then yes they may have a better life style then if they lived on their own however it still does not give others the right to make their choices. I do understand that people may feel that it is in their best interest to stay alive until the right time, but what is a life if you can't do anything.
I don't think they should feel an obligation to die. It is up to them to decide if they want to die or not. if they feel they can still live with the disease and dont want to die, that's fine. some of them might believe in a miracle that their disease can be cured, therefore they might still want to live.
It should be up to them and not someone else to decide when they should die.
No matter what a person is going through, I think they are still a person, no matter their physical or mental well being, until they die. so therefore a person with dementia, to me, is still a person. and i dont think euthanasia should be lehalised because it can be exploited in so many ways. it might give people the right to decide to end other peoples life even if person is not happy about it.
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