We put down animals why not humans ?

[Arch Stanton]

Animals who are in pain and have a life threatening illness are often put down yet that is not allowed for humans. Humans just have to suffer and sometimes have to endure a long painful death. It seems like animals are treated more humanely than humans. Why is this ?

[andy at handiwork]

As they say 'They shoot horses, dont they?' I suppose one reason amongst many is that you would be unlikely to inherit the family money if the horse died prematurely from a mercy killing, whereas if grannie went......
However I dont think it's beyond the ability of parliament to introduce some scheme with adequate safeguards to provide for this in future, if the, not only religious, objections can be addressed.

[Sam Slater]

It's a difficult one. Keeping people alive against their will seems to take away an individual right as well as being inhumane; letting people kill themselves to ease their suffering, though, undermines and hinders medical research and progress. If people would have been allowed to kill themselves 50 years ago because they had cancer we wouldn't be where we are today in combating it.

Personally I'm against euthanasia because of this, though I might think differently if I had to see a loved one suffer over a long period of time, I admit.

[Lizard]

I believe in the right to die with dignity full stop. It will happen in my lifetime i,m sure, and I personally would welcome it, although It's the Individuals choice. There will never be a fail safe way, just like there is no fail safe way to judge if someone has been falsly imprisoned.

[crofter]

Some of those horses I have recently gambled on deserved a bullet through their empty brain ....

Strange how we also eat a lot of these animals though isn't it - which to me does not seem to be very humane!!

[Deuce Bigolo]

We wont give euthansia the green light because of the influence of that little thing called religion,pure and simple

I find it highly disturbing that we feel the need to keep the terminally ill alive even when we cant relieve their pain

Listening to the right for life groups just reminds me fanatics abound every where and their all dangerous and deluded as each other

[BGAFD Admin]

Remember the sad case of Terri Schiavo? Interestingly, the final paragraph suggests that the emnity felt by the Schindlers towards Terri's husband, plus possibly their own sublimated guilt as parents (Terri was bulimic), may have played as significant a role in their opposition towards letting her die as any religious antipathy. Not quite so publicised were the post-mortem findings which vindicated Michael Schiavo and the medical authorities.

[one eyed jack]

Those who are able to do it might find if you go into a nice quiet room with a bottle of the hard stuff and sleeping pills is the most peaceful way to go.

i still cant get my head around how that cabbie killed himself the otherweek in Southwark.

Why would anyone tie a rope around their neck and drive off and rip their own head off is beyond my understanding.

[Deuce Bigolo]

Pretty hard to forget even after all this time

If i remember correctly there was another case in America where a young boy had been in a coma for almost a decade when he turned 18 and his parents decided to turn off the life support....they became an instant target

All comes back to quality of life...if you havent got it or are unlikely to get it
blind faith after a reasonable amount of time has passed is pure folly

The more i read about the right to lifers the more i see each person being used not saved

When you read the cases you can almost hear the science versus religion battle going on in the background