Euthanasia in Canada, Supreme Court Ruled this Morning

Welcome to Wondercafe2!

A community where we discuss, share, and have some fun together. Join today and become a part of it!

Register Log in
Inannawhimsey said:
...your short ride on the long bus ticket
Click to expand...
In another scene Jessie compares life to a bus ride. She says it's hot, crowded & noisy and the only reason you don't get off is that your destination is 10 stops away. She says if she gets off now, or later, it's the same place when she steps down to it. In another part of the movie she says that she thought about sticking around if there was just something that she really liked, like rice pudding or cornflakes- but Jessie is a person robbed of any enthusiasm for life. So for her, staying around, especially for others, just doesn't make sense any more- she's had enough. ... 'Nite' Mother
 
UnDefinitive said:
In another scene Jessie compares life to a bus ride. She says it's hot, crowded & noisy and the only reason you don't get off is that your destination is 10 stops away. She says if she gets off now, or later, it's the same place when she steps down to it. In another part of the movie she says that she thought about sticking around if there was just something that she really liked, like rice pudding or cornflakes- but Jessie is a person robbed of any enthusiasm for life. So for her, staying around, especially for others, just doesn't make sense any more- she's had enough. ... 'Nite' Mother
Click to expand...
So then somebody just give her some rice pudding and cornflakes already. Is that so much to ask? Good morning sunshine!
 
Nite Mother? Would that be Like Gabriel ... when all thought goes on vacation?

A void in sensations of cognizance ... when other things come to mind?

Sorry for those that believe not in mind or the alternate ... a pseudo sensation?
 
Probably only old squeakers ... Church Muses?

Those well churched in the unreal and unseen ... de void ghosts of past thoughts?
 
Kimmio said:
The problem is @Hermann the law did open up to those experiencing mental despair who are not dying. And I suspect, because there are people here so delighted about having assisted suicide available for real end of life decisions for people who are really and truly at the end of their lives, they are looking for ways to justify in their minds, the dangerous gaps that this ruling leaves for those who are not terminally ill.
Click to expand...

Yes, Kimmio, there is that dangerous gap, and it is possible that in some countries where euthanasia is legal this dangerous gap gets exploited to help severely depressed and suicidal people who are not terminally ill to die. Disabled people, because of their handicaps and because of various social factors, are naturally predisposed to depression. If they are suicidal, they should be helped to think well and to lead meaningful lives rather than being helped to die.

It is difficult to determine exactly what "quality of life" is, and it may well be different for each individual. But as the humane and compassionate society that we Canadians pride ourselves to be, we should be able to come up with an assisted suicide legislation that is just and fair to all, and does not discriminate against the handicapped.

In Nazi Germany, mentally handicapped people were euthanized, along with other "unworthy" or "subhuman" people like Jews, Gypsies, and even "enemies of the state." The slippery slope that led to the mass extermination of these people began with soft discrimination and ended in genocide. As you said repeatedly, it is best not to embark on that slippery slope at all and avoid what is euphemistically called "soft" discrimination, which can easily harden once there are laws in existence that favour a harder attitude.
 
Inannawhimsey said:
MEDITATION FOR ALL SEMI-AWARE FIREARMS!
and EMBRACING of moments when we get SUPER-CLARITY from DEPRESSION!
semi-aware firearms known as human beings, ENGAGE!

Click to expand...


Yes, Inna, everyone has two fire arms, and should learn to use them well.

Anti-theists often say that there is no interventionist God. I disagree. We humans are the interventionist arm of God! We are made of godly fire. And, once we are aware of this, we use our godly fire brain and our godly fire arms creatively, passionately and responsibly, as if we were the gods that we ultimately are.
 
Insanity: Is this equivalent to inverse psychology?

This could be identified with the image on the back of the physical eye appearing right side up on the backside of the occult organ (that unseen organ) that if exposed dies! Some refer to this as the brae in ... a wee hidden nich, or nock/nook? Tis a eunoch thing ... de sect'd because of all of the dark words flying around in "ere!

I have often wondered about the connection that follows from: if you think you're crazy you're not ... and the corollary that if you believe yourself sane you're not ... otherwise would you be in this crazy situation we're in? Possibly you'd have escaped earlier if it weren't for the laws about suicide ... if this was martyr-ism for the kings cause ... that would be something else. Anybody can die for their leader ... or so the leaders say. I just don't know ... and no one appears wise enough to be able to speak of such things ... ineffable!
 
Now you are getting all Matrix-y Luce ;)

So, to use a common philosophical term and approach to an ethical dilemma: peel the onion. Peel back the layers because it is a topic that has many angles, many ways to approach it. That said, there are rules to dialogue, disputation, debate and living in a community. We agree to be thoughtful, considerate, and in logical discussion, there exists the notion of charity. To listen with care, and to consider points of view.

Otherwise, it is just a mud slinging pit of doom.
 
Honestly, this entire discussionis based on illness, the understanding of chronic, progressive disease(s) or injury and the rights of an individual to make a decision to end living with dignity, and peacefully. And truthfully, the use of language does matter. Understanding words really is important. To be criticised for understanding logic and for using words well only reflects poorly upon the critic.
 
I wonder if those of you who are tossing around the concept of 'terminal illness' as being the only possible reason for medically assisted dying realize that many illnesses are not 'terminal'. I just had a friend die suddenly of a heart attack. She was not yet 70. Tragedy? She has been in a nursing home with alzheimers for several years, no longer knows anybody, restless and not content. And until yesterday morning while inching her wheelchair around trying to escape she gasp suddenly and slumped over, she had a life expectancy of possibly 20 more years. Her disease took her mind - unfortunately she wouldn't have been able to ask for assisted death with dignity.
For many others, with ALS or Parkinsons, wee will watch our ability to control our bodies deteriorate over years unless some other disease or accident takes us first.
What does terminal mean? Everybody living will eventually die. So life itself is terminal. But it seems to me that for most people 'terminal' means a disease or condition that will result in death within a few days, weeks, or months.
And I don't think that I should have to wait until I contact or develop a terminal condition before I can decide that life has no more meaning for me.
 
redhead said:
Honestly, this entire discussionis based on illness, the understanding of chronic, progressive disease(s) or injury and the rights of an individual to make a decision to end living with dignity, and peacefully. And truthfully, the use of language does matter. Understanding words really is important. To be criticised for understanding logic and for using words well only reflects poorly upon the critic.
Click to expand...
Redhead you came late to the party, by 70 pages or so (whew what a party it's been as WC parties go - not the most fun). I admit that I started the kerfuffle by arguing that this ruling is dangerous for people with disabilities because it uses the word disability in a way that lumps it in with illness and disease - the old medical model - however, the newer social model adopted by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that Canada ratified in 2010 after a long process of evolving anti-discrimination policy, and the social model is now incorporated into WHOs definition - was not used in this ruling. Disability rights groups fear that the equality of people with disabilities and the value of their lives living with disabilities will be diminished by this ruling because some would rather die than be disabled which is reflective of discriminatory attitudes about people with disabilities - heading down the slippery slope Hermann mentioned (and I have several times). Even in Canada it has only been a short time since people with disabilities were institutionalized and abused and maltreated and had no say in decisions about their needs.
 
Seeler said:
I wonder if those of you who are tossing around the concept of 'terminal illness' as being the only possible reason for medically assisted dying realize that many illnesses are not 'terminal'. I just had a friend die suddenly of a heart attack. She was not yet 70. Tragedy? She has been in a nursing home with alzheimers for several years, no longer knows anybody, restless and not content. And until yesterday morning while inching her wheelchair around trying to escape she gasp suddenly and slumped over, she had a life expectancy of possibly 20 more years. Her disease took her mind - unfortunately she wouldn't have been able to ask for assisted death with dignity.
For many others, with ALS or Parkinsons, wee will watch our ability to control our bodies deteriorate over years unless some other disease or accident takes us first.
What does terminal mean? Everybody living will eventually die. So life itself is terminal. But it seems to me that for most people 'terminal' means a disease or condition that will result in death within a few days, weeks, or months.
And I don't think that I should have to wait until I contact or develop a terminal condition before I can decide that life has no more meaning for me.
Click to expand...
Maybe we should talk about what terminal does not mean.
 
Kimmio said:
@Seeler. I am sorry about your friend. I just caught after reading your post again, that it happened yesterday.
Click to expand...

Don't be sorry. I lost her a few years ago when I ran into her at a social function and noticed that she seemed vague, unfocused - and a mutual friend told me the diagnosis.
I thought there must have been some mistake when I saw her at a school reunion and she greeted me and shared somee memories of school days - after a brief chat I turned away and fifteen minutes later we bumped into each other again and she greeted me with the same enthusiam and shared the same memories almost word for word.
I lost her again when I heard that she had become too violent for her husband to manage at home and he had to put her in a nursing home.
And again when I heard that she no longer recognized anyone, even her husband who visited every day.

Everything that made her warm, welcoming, funny, generous, unique was gone by then.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top