Friend-Assisted Suicide

[MrsD]

This is a bunch of steaming, stinking crap. There is an older gentleman here in Connecticut who was arrested in January and is now on trial for helping his dear friend commit suicide. The friend was dying of cancer and just didn't want to see it through, so he exercised his options as an intelligent, thoughtful and brave man would. The gentleman (and I use that word with the utmost respect and meaning) cleaned a gun, brought his friend outside into his own back yard spent a bit of time with him and advised him as to the best place to aim the gun. He then turned and walked away to let his beloved friend die in peace and dignity.

BASH the STUPID IGNORANT system for trying to put this man to trial and possibly jail. Accelerated Probation is being considered, but I think the guy should be honored for his loyalty to his friend. I hope one day to have the same kind of friend if I need it, and I would with love and compassion do the same for any loved one.

Knock off the ****, Mr. Prosecutor and do the RIGHT thing, NOT the political thing. I know this opens a a whole can of ugly, squirming worms, but there should be provisions made for a loyal man such as this. I'm very emotional about this story, and I admit that it can't be easy or pleasant to prosecute this case - isn't there SOME way this can be handled humanely, where it wouldn't give a murderer or base criminal the thought that shooting someone is OK? Where the hell is Kevorkian??????

[GoingNova]

I have to respectfully disagree. The courage lies in dealing with your problem, and not taking the easy way out. And, I am speaking from experience: my grandmother had a stroke, and the whole family suffered over one year, watching her waste away in the hospital. It was hard on all of us, making daily trips to the hospital. My grandfather essentially LIVED in there for over a year. Everyone knew she was going to die, but we refused to not treat her. We all pulled together as a family and dealt with it. The notion of wheeling her into the backyard and putting a bullet in her head is barbaric to me. What good came from all the suffering everyone went through? We grew closer as a family.

In regards to the "STUPID IGNORANT system" that is putting this man in jail, well, again I would have to respectfully disagree. Shooting someone because they "asked you too", NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES, simply can not be allowed under law. Could you imagine the chaos? I shot my wife because she wanted to die. My brother didn't want to live, so I slit his throat. My parents were old, and didn't want to be a burden to my siblings and I, so we asphyxiated them.

I would file this under one of those sad situations in life where no one wins, but I agree with the prosecution of this man.

You know I love you ya MRSD, but, well, we don't always have to agree. ;)

[MrsD]

No, NO, NO! This man did not shoot his friend - the man shot himself. The friend who is now in trouble just handed him a gun and walked away. A valiant gesture from a loving friend. I understand what you are saying TOTALLY. I must refer to an OLD saying, "they shoot horses, don't they?"

We had some lovely, wonderful elderly neighbors down the street. A loving couple with many, many years together. The wife became quite ill, and as hard as her husband tried to care for her, he just couldn't do it. She begged him not to put her in a nursing home and in effect leave her. So he (very bluntly) shot her. He then took his own life (as well as leaving a note for his children) because he just plain old didn't want to be without her and was afraid for what his family would go through with his arrest and subsequent trial. I PRAY for that from the man I love. Please - do NOT put me "away". Is this the way hard working, honest people should have to end things? In fear of the LAW? These people and so many like then have dealt with "their problems" for their entire lives. If taking the easy way out was what they wanted, they would have done it YEARS ago!!! (I know I would have...). Many have lived through the depression, WWII, raising families on extremely limited budgets and doing one HELL of a job, I might add.

My affinity towards you Nova shows no bounds, but I think you're wrong on this one. The minute I met you and you started to talk, I knew you were a good egg; I immediately liked you and MrsNova. You a member of law enforcement and I respect and honor your role in 9/11 and many other things. This is something I feel very strongly about. My husband and my friends are my ENTIRE life. In as difficult as it would be, if one of them asked the ultimate of me, I would have to comply.

I admit that I was over zealous with my wording in the original post. I have total respect for the law and those who aim to protect it. I simply could not, and WOULD not prosecute this dear man.

[monsieurjohn]

i deleted the duplicate thread...

hmm. if he'd shot the friend himself, that'd be one thing. i hardly see how he assisted at all. are there even laws about accessory to suicide?

[Valania]

Okay i can see your point of view but how does handing a "friend" a gun and telling them exactly how to kill themselves sound right at all? I mean it doesn't show valiance or caring for the other person all it shows is a lack of respect. If they were truly friends then the guy would have tried to talk some sense into his "friend" instead of helping him take the cowardly way out of life.

[MrsD]

I never said anything about the friend showing his sick friend "exactly how to do it". I said he handed him the gun and walked away. Who knew what the assisting friend was thinking, either? He could very well have thought that the sick friend would think twice about killing himself once he had the gun in his hand.

[Brainfreeze]

One of the other things we have to look at on this, is if we're proscuting those that help others to commite sucide..how long will it before we take the steps to throw those that fail at commiting sucide in jail?

[MrsD]

Hmmmm.... that's something to think about...:eusa_thin

[Brainfreeze]

Going by what has has been brought forward in this thread it's also not that far of a step to say that the government can proscute the entrainment industry for showing depictions of people committing suicide, if people should actually carry it out in a similar fashion.

[MrsD]

Good point, Brainfreeze - hasn't there been actual cases where people have emulated something they saw on TV?

[Rascal]

i'm sorry brainfreeze, but i think blaming the entertainment industry for choices made by individuals is a cop-out excuse.

[Brainfreeze]

Yes it is a cop-out excuse but thats where we are getting to today. People blame music and video games when kids go to school and shoot people. People proscute this guy when he gives his friend a gun, which the friend uses to shoot himself.

Why not proscute the place the gun was bought from? What about TV shows or movies that show people shooting themselves. If this one thing here goes all were going is opening the door for lawsuits, because we're setting a precedence here.

Thats the way it works slowly small cases get made and the judge agrees because theres not a a large difference from a previous case..then we get people suing McDonald's because they spilled coffee on themselves..and they're own kids are fat.

[Akuma]

I agree with you that commiting suicide is the most cowardly thing one can do, but there are limits as to what one can tolerate. If a person is very ill, suffers badly from it and we know that he or she is not going to survive, is it right to keep that person alive for as long as possible making that person suffer because we dont have the curage to let go. I know that it hurts to lose someone, and more so if that someone commits suicide, but is it not their choice? I think that it is worse to keep someone terminally ill alive against their wishes than it is to let them die on their own terms. Keeping someone that suffers alive for as long as possible can also be compared to something else, torture. The essence of torture is to keep the victim suffering for as long as possible. Granted that torture is much more intense suffering, but it doesnt last for years.

My own mother committed suicide when I was two years old, I have almoast no memories of her, but I do not hate her for what she did. I think that it was cowardly, but I also respect her for making a choice. Ultimately its our own choice what we do with our life, and everyone should respect that.

If this man wanted to die and asked his friend to help him, the friend should not be blamed for the other mans choice. Even thinking about prosecuting the man is wrong.

[ANGLOIRISH]

Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted in April 1999 of murder and is serving a prison sentence of 10 to 25 years. The euthanasia crusader's conviction stemmed from his assistance in the suicide of a 52-year-old man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease.
I believe in physician assisted suicide. Jack allowed the sufferer to pass on with dignity in a more humane manner than a gun shot to the temple!

Kevorkian didn't randomly choose those who wished to end their suffering. He was contacted to assist. The terminally ill patient was counseled for several days and ultimately it was his/her decision.


Euthanasia occurs daily in hospitals; however, the doctor is never suspect. A clear example of physician assisted suicide is the administration of meds. Morphine or Demerol must NEVER be given to a patient with a respiration rate of 10 and under. Morphine depresses the CNS (Central Nervous System) which controls respiration etc. An overdose of Morphine will result in the inability to breathe and will fatally affect cardiac function. Orders are standing on patients charts that the med be administered prn (when necessary) as a “comfort measure”. More often than you care to imagine, terminal patients are receiving involuntary “euthanasia” from health care professionals under the guise of “comfortable measures”.

[MrsD]

Again, Irish - you impress me! Sorry for your loss, Akuma - you have a "healthy" attitude, in my opinion!

[smo1704]

I think physician assisted suicide should be made legal, provided that all who applied for it were first required to undergo therapy, and perform the actual injection themselves (though the doctors would prep it). I think this would reduce the overall suicide rate because people tend to commit suicide while depressed. In this state they think things will never get better and that they will be miserable forever. However, depression tends to go away on its own, regardless of whether or not the individual seeks help. If these people were to go to physicians rather than committing suicide at home using whatever means were available, therapy (or even the waiting involved in getting a doctor's appointment) would be able to expedite their recovery, so that they would no longer feel the need to commit suicide. The whole goal is to try to prevent them from killing themselves in a moment of despair and letting them return to normal. This would also allow those who are terminally ill and in pain to end their lives. As George Eastman, who was dying of cancer, wrote before committing suicide: "To my friends: My work is done, why wait?"