Wentailang t1_jacvu65 wrote on February 28, 2023 at 3:09 PM

Reply to comment by homefone in A renewed push to legalize ‘medical aid in dying’ by d5dq

maybe we shouldn’t have hospitals, since it pressures people to get checked into them if they otherwise would want to stay home. it’s not fair to the minority of people who prefer to suffer, so let’s take away everyone’s freedom of choice.

homefone t1_jad9qkt wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:40 PM

Usually, hospitals try to keep people alive, not dead. There is no equivalence here.

Wentailang t1_jadbhmo wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:51 PM

my point is “a few people might feel pressure if they have multiple options, so no one should have any options” sounds utterly ridiculous in any other context. i do understand where you’re coming from, and that euthanasia is higher stakes, but we shouldn’t be torturing millions of people so that thousands might accidentally stop suffering a couple months early when they actually wanted to draw it out.

and to answer the inevitable follow up, i don’t see why it’s easier to advocate keeping euthanasia banned when we could instead be advocating for doctors not being allowed to suggest it, or not be allowed to give it to non-terminally ill patients.

homefone t1_jadcepi wrote on February 28, 2023 at 4:57 PM

And equating euthanasia to "just another option" is what concerns me.

Pain mitigation is very good for most terminally ill people. The idea that euthanasia is anything but a nuclear option for the few cases where pain is prolonged and unmanageable is disturbing. Suicide is not pain mitigation. It's death.

The reason why we shouldn't allow it at all is because, no matter what, some families will mention to their ill, and because you will inevitably euthanize someone who couldn't have consented to it. There are too many ethical problems with it.

Wentailang t1_jaddbed wrote on February 28, 2023 at 5:03 PM

i feel like this is a fundamental difference we probably won’t be reconciling, but i do see where you’re coming from and apologize if i came off a bit dickish. while i do still support it, you’ve at least helped add some more nuance to my stance. thanks for bearing with me.