Should we be allowed to die.....

[#1]

....... even if we are not ill.

This incredible chap has reached the good age of one hundred plus and has now decided to call it a day. 

Is there anything wrong with that? 

Apart from having to travel away from home and halfway across the world I'd say nothing at all. Not all of us will be able to afford the choice or indeed be brave enough to make it, but we should at least have the option without it having to cost us the earth to leave it.

Lets not get confused with euthanasia either, this is assisted dying and I for one salute him.

[#2]

If someone chooses to end their life on the basis that they have had enough, then let them, after all, it is their life, not someone else's, and they should be allowed to do so in a place of their choosing, not having to travel across the globe to a foreign land to have the procedure done...

[#3]

Fully agree with @twocvbloke & @Minivanman

What right has anyone else to say what you should or should not do with your life providing it can be clearly shown that you were of sound mind at the time you made the decision and were at a legal age to do so.

[#4]

Yes we should 

[#5]

I'm thinking that along with those free bus passes, the £200 fuel allowance and the State pension, when we reach a certain age we should be able to opt out completely at no cost.

Just think how much money we'd save the taxpayer!

Making light of a serious subject I know, but its an idea surely?

[#6]

Suicide has not been illegal in this country for 50years.  It is recognised though that the vast majority that attempt or succeed in it have some degree of mental incapacity, often depression, with any number of causes including loneliness.

The incident mentioned in the BBC story clearly shows a lonely old man with few (if any) friends or family close enough to assist him (he lay alone for two days after a fall).

That an intelligent man should find lack of society is tragic, but one would hope that the community response would be rather more positive than 'go kill yourself'.

[As for terminology, Euthanasia and assisted suicide are exactly the same thing. The Voluntary Euthanasia society renamed itself as 'Dignity in Dying' to become more socially acceptable].

'Just think how much money we'd save the taxpayer' may be a joke to you, but it is a very current question especially with regard to treatment of the elderly.  Perhaps we should have public re-runs of the film 'Logan's Run'.

[#7]

Not a joke at all and you are confusing terms if I may say so - neither are we talking about suicide, but the dignity of assisted dying - not the indignity of being found at the end of a rope by your loved one as my uncle was.

Euthanasia is not suicide and suicide is not assisted dying...... neither are they euphemisms. Not in my book anyway.

If the elderly want to be cared for then of course we as a society should provide the best that is available, but if we want to depart this life then that should also be available in a carefully controlled and loving manner.

Death before dishonour? 

Yes, if it's my choice and yes...... it will be allowed to happen one day.

[#8]

There was a TV programme a few years ago showing a man with a progressive debilitating condition who went to Switzerland to get help to die before he got so bad that he couldn't make the journey, or even speak or feed himself.  The place where this 'service' took place was like a flat on an industrial estate since they were not allowed to do it in a residential area.  I found it somewhat off-putting when this woman with a heavy German accent said something like, "I am now going to give you the medicament that will end you life", whereupon she helped him pour it down his throat.  He almost immediately stretched his arm out and said in a hoarse voice, "Water" which he was refused, and his life ended pretty much straight away.  Although he was told at the beginning to take his time, there was a fair bit of pressure applied to ensure he 'got on with it'.

The only good thing was that he was given a little square of Lindt chocolate before the fatal substance was administered.

Whilst I support a person's right to take his/her own life, I found the Swiss model rather too clinical.

[#9]

I remember watching that and yes it did seem clinical, and if its the same one there were also some quite moving moments - one with a couple of relatives I think they were, singing hymns on the other side of the door as the man passed away?

As for the woman with the German accent, that has it's own unfortunate connotations.

There has to be a better way that's for sure

[#10]

We all die. The question should be whether we can affect the timing, location and cause.

[#11]

A dignified end. 

https://news.sky.com/story/scientist-dr-david-goodall-104-ends-his-life-at-swiss-clinic-11366221

[#12]

How sickening, reminiscent of one of the last Edward G’s films.......

[#13]

Solent Green?

As I recall he also passed away to the sound of Beethoven, a movement from his Pastoral Symphony if memory serves

As for sickening I can think of far worse ways to go, and few better.

Edit: Soylent, not Solent Green.

[#14]

If its good enough for dogs, cats then why not humans. I know I have lasting memories of family when they have let illness show the shadow of how they were, I suppose the turn of the coin is that 1 in 100 miracle turnaround

[#15]

A slightly different case I know, but how long should one wait before making such a decision?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6227283/trenton-mckinley-brain-dead-wakes-up-coma-parents-organ-donati...

There was a case some years ago of a young British man who'd sustained a head injury while diving and ended up paralysed and in a coma with little hope, or so they thought, of recovery.  When he regained consciousness, he revealed that he'd heard everything that was being said while he was 'out'.  In fact when the initial handover to the hospital staff took place, he didn't realise they were talking about him and thought, "poor chap".