Would you kill somebody if he/she asks you to do it?
If you watched A million dollar baby than you know exactly what am I trying to ask but if you don’t here are the details:
You have a friend/relative who lived his/her life(he got a shot to let something behind)and he got severely injured.He is conscious but he can’t even breath alone.So he is bound to a bed and to lots of wires in a small depressing room.He gets increasingly unhappy with his ’‘new life’’ so he decides that he doesn’t have to ’‘live’’ like this anymore.He can’t legally ask to be killed so he asks you to disconnect him from his life supporting machines.
Would you do this?(Why?)Would it be easier for you to do it if it was a close friend or a casual one?
How would you continue your life if you choose to do this thing?
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39 Answers
Without qualification or equivocation, no, I would not. I would, however, do my best to convince the person who asked me to that life is a gift and should never be squandered.
Medical science gets closer every day to discovering ways to regenerate organs and even nerves. To take one’s life is to deny hope and all alternative possibilities.
I can see myself doing something like that for someone I loved, yes.
I wouldn’t physically pull the plug. I would give the doctor’s the okay to do it though if I was that person’s medical POA and I knew it was their wishes. I would also be an advocate for someone if they wanted to no longer be on life support and they were having trouble getting others to follow their wishes. This is why advanced directives are really important.
Yes. When enough is enough I would help my loved ones die and at lest one of my family members could do the same for me. My youngest sister and I have an agreement.
Perhaps. I know that I don’t want to be kept alive by artificial means unless I am able to get up and bitch at someone ;)
No way! I would turn on the cartoon network and put a fifth of jack in his (or mine) IV.
Depends.
Most of it depends on whether I feel that the person is in their right mind.
No I don’t think so, I think I would RUN:)
Willfully causing the death of another is still a capital crime. If “he asked me to” were a defense, who wouldn’t use it? This is what advance directives are for.
I would do everything in my power to help end the suffering of a loved one, including trying to obtain medicinal heroin for intractable pain. But I would not commit murder.
Why did Fluther recommend this question to me… = O
Oh noez
Can’t do it. Took an oath. Primum non nocere.
I wouldn’t be able to do it. I’m not sure I even believe in euthanasia. It’s a fucking tough thing to be burdened by and I do not believe I would be able to do it.
@Dr_C Invoking the PNN clause?
@silhouette
what was the decision of the court?Was the women declared unguilty?
Of course, I would want them to be happy. What ever they wanted. I don’t blame them.
I would. Then again, I’m bound by loyalty that traverses the line between life & death. I would obey their wishes to the letter. I have no problem with taking life, unless it is someone who is healthy, happy, & innocent (such as a small child).
I’d like to do it without being asked,but I am afraid of trouble;)
I know that I wouldn’t want to live a life that I can’t fulfill, so that would be painful. So I know many of my family members have said that if they ever end up to the point of living off of machines, that they wish the plug to be pulled. But many of my family members have the request of DNR ( Do not resuscitate) if such thing ever happens, and they cannot recover.
I probably wouldn’t do it, but I’d try to help them find reasons to go on, if they were still able to communicate with me and watch tv, etc.. There is so much technology out there that can help paraplegic individuals (if they have the means), and if a friend or loved one of mine was permanently disabled, I would just be there as much as I could on a regular basis and help them find ways of coping and doing new things.
I think it’s terribly sad that you can’t legally help someone who truly wants to die. Not someone who is suffering from depression.. but someone who is ill. Or physically disabled to the point where they can’t enjoy their own life. Or especially those who are in pain or suffering at the natural end of their lives. I know exactly what it is like to have someone look you in the eye and beg you to end it for them… I don’t think it would be as hard as many think to actually DO it if it weren’t for the legal ramifications. It’s merciful.
In the scenario you have described, no I wouldn’t. I would move heaven and earth to try and help that individual find a life where they were not warehoused some where. There is a situation where I absolutely would help someone else end there life: if they were in immense pain in which pain killers couldn’t touch, they had a terminal illness, it was their wish and I was extremely close to them. I would go to prison to do so.
Three times in my life now I have been a part of the decision to unplug or not. It is the hardest decision you can ever contemplate, one that will have soul questioning effects for the rest of your life. “What if, what if, what if?”
Only if I had a bunch of evidence that supported that he asked me to do it. I’d rather let him die then than a long painful life on life support. Which is better? I don’t know.
I think there could be a situation where I would want to, out of love, end the suffering of someone. Could I pull a plug, provide an overdose, or withhold medication? I don’t think I would know until I was faced with the decision.
I just…. I could never have the guts to do it :’(
There’s no living person that I would do that for. I could only do that for someone whose life is more important to me than my own. My reasoning is this: active euthanasia is unlawful. If I did this, I’d be arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned. I refuse to give up my physical freedom. The only practical way to implement this refusal would be to take my own life before I could be arrested. For me to do this act, it would be a double death; that person immediately followed by me.
@Draconess25 I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. The only person I’d have done that for is dead already. But I’d have done anything to have kept her alive. I prefer Klingon tactics to those of Monty Python :^P
@Draconess25 Thank you ma’am, and here’s your change ((hug)).
I did have to make the choice to take my husband off of life support. He had been in a coma for 10 days, though, and his doctor said he wasn’t coming back. Had he been conscious, I wouldn’t have been able to do it.
If someone I loved were living in constant agony with no end and begged me to help end it. How could I live with myself if I didn’t help them.
It is sad that people who want to die because of chronic disability or pain cannot do so surrounded by love and family on there own terms but that it has to be furtive and criminal and hurtful to all parties concerned.
That’s a Great Movie btw, but HELL NO I wouldn’t do that, I find the personal request in itself to be heartbreaking if I know them or not, besides I cant have that heavy weight on my heart. If this makes me weak then so be it, at lease I’m honest.
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