You have come to the right place, and we are glad you are here. This is a safe place to share stories of love and loss, devastating grief, exhausting care-giving, memorials, advanced directives, mourning, hope, and despair. We want to hear about about what you wish you had known or done differently, what you wish those around you had known or done differently, and what went right. We will never tell you to move on or find closure.
"What cannot be said will be wept." Sappho
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Assisted Suicide | Harriet Scott's Story | Last Right Series
Assisted Suicide: Harry Scott’s Story followed a terminally ill woman as she prepared for the end of her life. Scott was a woman who led a life of independence and was highly pragmatic about her death. At the start of the interview, she had arranged nearly all aspects of the end of her life. That is, all aspects that she was legally allowed to arrange. Prior to having endured intolerable pain, Scott wished she could call on “assistance” so that when the pain did escalate she could end her life and further suffering. In Canada physician assisted death is illegal. However, these types of laws are now under scrutiny as they may hinder patient autonomy. Patient choice is virtually always the primary guiding principle for medical professionals when determining care for mentally competent patients. Scott likens having the ability to choose physician assisted death to having the ability to pursue an abortion; not all women will choose to have an abortion but it is having the choice that is so important. Once a controversial topic, Canada legalized abortion in 1969. Scott believed that access to physician assisted suicide would also soon become accepted as a basic human right. For some then, the right to die is simply a patient’s choice and should be respected as such. Opponents claim that these types of actions are more than “a matter of free will” as they disrespect the sanctity of life. They believe other measures could be taken to alleviate suffering at the end of life. There seems to be an association between tremendous pain, depression, and requests for assisted death: In one study of terminally ill patients 58.8% of those with a “desire to die” had diagnosable symptoms of depressive disorders*. Thus, a more vigorous palliative care treatment would be appropriate to treat both pain and depressive symptoms. This could offer patients respite while still respecting the inviolability of life. Nevertheless, avoidance of pain is not the only reason people request physician assisted death. Deficits in quality of life, loss of sense of self, loss of function and desire for control** are all valid rationales supplied by terminally ill patients for ending their lives in this manner. Palliative care would likely not assuage all of these factors. In summary, a disreputable lapse in respect for patient autonomy is present when the right to physician assisted death is denied.
Assisted Suicide: Harry Scott’s Story followed a terminally ill woman as she prepared for the end of her life. Scott was a woman who led a life of independence and was highly pragmatic about her death. At the start of the interview, she had arranged nearly all aspects of the end of her life. That is, all aspects that she was legally allowed to arrange. Prior to having endured intolerable pain, Scott wished she could call on “assistance” so that when the pain did escalate she could end her life and further suffering. In Canada physician assisted death is illegal. However, these types of laws are now under scrutiny as they may hinder patient autonomy. Patient choice is virtually always the primary guiding principle for medical professionals when determining care for mentally competent patients. Scott likens having the ability to choose physician assisted death to having the ability to pursue an abortion; not all women will choose to have an abortion but it is having the choice that is so important. Once a controversial topic, Canada legalized abortion in 1969. Scott believed that access to physician assisted suicide would also soon become accepted as a basic human right. For some then, the right to die is simply a patient’s choice and should be respected as such. Opponents claim that these types of actions are more than “a matter of free will” as they disrespect the sanctity of life. They believe other measures could be taken to alleviate suffering at the end of life. There seems to be an association between tremendous pain, depression, and requests for assisted death: In one study of terminally ill patients 58.8% of those with a “desire to die” had diagnosable symptoms of depressive disorders*. Thus, a more vigorous palliative care treatment would be appropriate to treat both pain and depressive symptoms. This could offer patients respite while still respecting the inviolability of life. Nevertheless, avoidance of pain is not the only reason people request physician assisted death. Deficits in quality of life, loss of sense of self, loss of function and desire for control** are all valid rationales supplied by terminally ill patients for ending their lives in this manner. Palliative care would likely not assuage all of these factors. In summary, a disreputable lapse in respect for patient autonomy is present when the right to physician assisted death is denied.
ReplyDelete