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Living in Oregon, the only state with legal assisted suicide, I've lived with the fact that people have the right to die. I firmly believe in a right to die, in fact, and think the criminalization of suicide is one of the stupider laws on the books, right up there with the sodomy and blasphemy laws.

As for its relation to pro-choice, I think it's there. We believe a woman has the right to choose what happens to her body. Should we then prevent her from doing harm to that body? I think not! It's fine for people to try to talk others out of suicide, but... if someone really wants to die, or is in terrible pain and wants it to end, and is going to die anyway... why not let them end their lives?

i learned about Dr. Kevorkian from my dad quite some time ago. i thought it was stupid that he was ever imprisoned.



couldn't have said it better. 3nodding

i've never understood why someone in great pain couldn't choose to die before that pain became any greater. i know for a fact that i'd want to die if i were in excruciating pain and i knew i was going to die/become braindead anyway. the legal system can't speak for the people in those situations; so why can't they let the people decide for themselves? UGH IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.

So lets say I was put into the hospital because I was...in a major accident.
Ok, Sure the docters/nurses want to keep me alive....

But turn it around a bit,
I was in a major accident and..well some reason or anethere slowly dying anyway?
They stick those tubes and needles and junk into me to keep me alive...
I'm barley hanging on...I feel like it's my time to go anyway,
and well the family is trying to keep me alive...They dont want to see me go, I feel it's time to leave this earth anyway...

May I kindly be reminded why they should attempt to revive me if I'm almost gone anyway? there is no real way to bring me back, I felt that I've been through anough. I have no real intention of returning to the living....But, they dont care I'm family,

My point, sure I wouldnt mind having the choice to die by my own wish,
It shouldnt be banned from me to die, when I'm nearly there anyway's...
Right?

Taking into consideration that I have nearly been thrown into therapy for simply stating my deepest desire (I had to lie and say I was "just joking"), I believe that one should have the right to die.

Kevorkian is but a man who realizes that no matter what we do, we're going to die anyway. If we want to die, we should with no trouble.

To take away one's right to die is to take away one's right to choose, to breathe, to eat, to drink, to sleep; It's just not right. You've got to do it anyway, so why try to delay the inevitable?

As for the experimentation on death row inmates, I'm for it. They were going to die anyway.

I fully support the "right to die," but I can't support Kerkovian. He's supposedly "educating" people about their bodily rights, yet he supports dangerous medical testing on nonconsenting Death Row inmates? Supporting the death penalty in itself seems a bit hypocritical of him, and forcing medical testing on these inmates would TAKE AWAY the few rights they have left.

Besides, human testing isn't a viable alternative to medical animal testing anyway. There's far too many variables with humans so it's damned near impossible to gauge a "normal" reaction thanks to individual medical histories and biological weaknesses and/or resistances which are minimised or not present at all in uniformly bred lab animals, and the human lifespan makes it unfeasible to observe the effects of a drug or treatment over a long span of time.

And I have to ask, what's so "immoral" about testing on animals bred specifically for testing, especially when laws specifying that the smallest number of animals possible must be used and they have to be treated humanely? Lab animals are probably treated better than animals raised for slaughter on some factory farms.

[/rant]

But yeah. On-topic. Right to die is a yes, provided you're of sound mind to make the decision. Euthanising patients when it was illegal, I don't like and I'm not sure I can support it. I'd rather see people lobbying to have the right to die made into law than illegally euthanising patients and making the right to die movement look like a bunch of murdering whackos.

Actually, the "Early Career" of the wiki article says that Kevorkian advocated consensual experiments on death row inmates.

As for his support of the death penalty, I guess the reasoning is that terminally ill patients have the right to die on their own conditions, while those who have committed a heinous crime don't deserve any of that. I can't really speak from that view, as I don't believe in capital punishment myself (too many flaws in the justice system, cheaper to house an inmate for life than to have one on death row making constant appeals and draining legal resources, etc). Besides, it was abolished here decades ago.

heart ! Another Michigander!

I believe that Kevorkian has a great mind. He believes in human rights, but the poor man's words will alwys be twisted into something cruel by the media and the public. It makes me feel really bad for him.

If I were faced with a terminal illnes, i'd really want to be able to end my suffering in a painless, quick way. No one wants to live in agony and torment. BUT to do this legally and with dignity, i'd have to move to the ONE state that actually allows "assisted suicide". But with that, you only get a bottle of pills that kill you slowly. WTF, America?