Death with dignity... we should be just as humane with people as we are with our pets.

It is sad but I am all for it.

This is the kind and ethical way to lead. Death and dying doesn't have to be so awful for interminably ill patients. And those who help their loved ones leave according to their own wishes should not be at risk of criminal action.

https://ct-n.com/CTNplayer.asp?livestream=3

Both the pro-aid in dying and anti-aid in dying press conferences can be watched on this feed if anyone is bored, just scrobble back in the line. After watching both I cannot fathom how this bill has not been passed. Yet another “my religion matters more than your pain” issue.

Far past time. This is one of those things that's actually done but never talked about. Keeping somebody "alive" just because we can is cruel. If you don't already have an end-of-life directive, GET one.

Hospital employee here: for the love of god let people die with dignity.

Good, who the hell wants to suffer so bad you beg for death. That’s what’s cruel.

People should be aware this is rapidly becoming a culture war issue. This is largely because 1) an associated press bombshell article about Canada's medical assistance in dying program (MAID) and 2) American conservatives reorienting their arguments about pro-life to focus on this issue.

The gist of the pro argument is it is only humane to allow people to choose when to die. We know the vast majority of a person's lifetime medical expenses will occur within 90 days of their death. We know medical debt is the main reason people declare bankruptcy. We know there's nothing stopping people from killing themselves in less humane ways (as referenced in this article). The pro argument is an appeal to common decency and practicality.

The gist of the anti argument is these policies innately corrupt medical institutions that are supposed to be stalwart advocates for your right to life. After the initial report in August 2022, there have been a string of anecdotal stories from elderly or disabled people in Canada who had some totally survivable illness and were prescribed MAID. This has extended to individuals who believe they were disliked by medical staff and it would be more convenient to simply "assist" their death. The anti argument is a moral argument that you can't trust institutions with this kind of irreversible power.

Personally, I was pretty convinced of the pro argument up until these reports. The thing that's been really disturbing is seeing the Tik Tok trend of kids with depression talking about how they can't wait to turn 18 so they can apply for MAID. I really don't know what to do with that.

Sharing this because I thought people might relate to the shift in views I personally experienced over the past few months.

This is so important.

I want as much dignity as I can keep when my time comes.

I do not want to saddle my family with crushing debt generated in my last few weeks of life.

It’s absolutely barbaric to force someone with a terminal illness to suffer when we have the technology to let them decide they want to go peacefully. I’m hopeful about this bill.

I think it should be legal in all states.

But only to those who have a diagnosed terminal illness or incurable chronic pain.

Awesome. I won't have to use my S&W when the time comes!

There used to be a society out of new Canaan for assisted suicide for those with severe ailments, cancer, or other end of life diagnosis’s. Can’t remember the name, texted a coworker to find it. Will update if they text me back

Finally a way to escape eversource

Good. Right. Just. Humane. I hope I have this option should the need arise.

I used to be for medically assisted suicide until I read the take of a disability rights activist: “there are so many who are happy to expend efforts in helping us die but not in enabling us to live.” In an ideal system, medical aid in dying is a very reasonable policy. But the US has never been an ideal system. And while I’m sure there are many who will swear up and down that it will only be used in those who have no chance of survival or who face a slow and painful death, the fact of the matter is that people who have been the victims of the American medical system at various points in history give plenty of reason to doubt that that is how things will happen in practice.

If you’ve never been the victim of willful malpractice and abuse by the medical system, it can be hard to fathom how people could be coerced to choose to die. but there are countless experiences of neglect and abuse that have been shared by those with disabilities, chronic illness, and mental illness as well as those who are minorities or are fat. many people with disabilities or mental illnesses already lack advocates in medical spaces and tend to have smaller support systems—this means a greater likelihood of being isolated if they are hospitalized. There are lots of ways nurses and doctors can impose casual cruelty on a patient to push them towards hopelessness—just one example being “missing” the vein a dozen times when placing an IV or constantly making comments about how alone, or worthless, or costly or wasteful a patient is, or placing their phone/computer/connection to the outside world out of their reach. It’s easy to say “oh that’s not so bad” but when you are a trapped audience dependent on someone else for survival in an already emotionally and mentally fragile state (which is inherent in being hospitalized) that behavior can have immense psychological consequences and lead someone to choose to die who otherwise might not have. While the vast majority of medical personnel would never fathom doing this purposefully, it takes very few people with deep prejudices and hatred to do immense harm. Further because of the norms of the medical field, it’s very possible for neglect to be imposed without the medical practitioner being aware that they are doing it. Not to mention the gatekeeping of healthcare due to insurance gouging and costs. Why are we accepting “people should be able to choose to die so they don’t saddle their relatives with debt” as an acceptable view point? Why are we not demanding that medical care be made more accessible so that no one has to choose between debt and death?

Until we give people real practical options for survival—until we make sure that the disabled can earn a reasonable stable living, and that people won’t risk homelessness and bankruptcy by choosing to get all the medical care they would need to survive—and until we address the rampant casual abuse that occurs within the medical field, medical aid in dying is just another tool for coercion, abuse, and cruelty of those who are already neglected by the medical field.

Good reason to move there

Multiple states already allow this, and I don't see why this is even an issue: if you're terminally ill, there's no legitimate reason to not let you leave this world with your dignity intact as opposed to being hooked to a machine + tied to a bed for 6 extra months.

my only issue with euthanasia / assisted suicide (and for the US it's not an issue, really) is when the government gets involved and starts pushing it on people deemed too expensive to treat.

Please yes

Please please please let this happen.

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FINALLY!

So this would exclude those with dementia or Alzheimer’s because the illness usually has progressed to the point that it’s observable by them, their family, and doctors. Because it affects their ability to think and process information a long with their behavior…I would imagine they would not be competent to make the decision.

What about someone that in old age declines like loosing the ability to walk or vision, and no longer can take care of themselves (like dress themselves, clean themselves after the bathroom and bath), they wouldn’t be able to get assistance? What about someone with RA or tinnitus? What about someone that’s hella old, all their friends are dead along with their spouse, physically are declining and wishes to pass on which their family knows about and supports?

What about someone young that finds out they will 100 percent develop a terminal illness and wishes to pass on before symptoms appear?

I just wish it was like the Swiss laws.

Only if there is strictly regulated pricing and price caps. Hospitals will exploit billing to extract all wealth of any remaining estate.

Smart money says this will never pass. Unfortunately there is too much money to be made by keeping people alive as long as possible. Whether it is nursing homes or healthcare, the money calls the shots.

Im game. I want out when Im 70 or when i become immobile if i make it that far

Yes! And we continue to be the best state ever!

We better not pull a Canada. But this is alright I guess

But what about my grandmaster plan to go skydiving without a parachute, and crash into the local elementary school pickup line, where Little Billy will say “look mommy, that man is made of strawberry jam!” And he’ll eat my mushy insides before being whisked away, never to be seen again…..