That's definitely a possibility - I don't know the guy. And I probably shouldn't have said anything, under those circumstances.
But I do know that, when I first heard Rivka's rather vehement opposition to assisted suicide, I was a bit surprised and a little nervous about why she had such strong feelings. Once I heard her reasoning, *I* realized that we're both strong supporters of caring for people who are dying. We don't "agree, (she, or I ) just (doesn't/don't) know it yet" - but we're on the same side. We both want to see people die as peacefully/happily as possible.
I haven't been in a situation in which my thoughts on assisted suicide had any relationship to a person's medical treatment. My opinions are subject to change if/when that happens. But I'm not willing to rule out assisted suicide. I'm not comfortable if it's taken off the table entirely. And I am awfully nervous that a lot of people who oppose assisted suicide are the same kind of people who'd refuse to take someone off a respirator (or a feeding tube) if they had the power to do so. But - I agree wholeheartedly that *if* a person chooses assisted suicide, it should not be out of fear of end of life suffering, or a result of a predictable set of emotional reactions to news of one's impending death, and that we, as a society, are much better if we push for good hospice care and good support for the dying, rather than letting assisted suicide be the answer.
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Date: 2010-07-13 12:45 am (UTC)But I do know that, when I first heard Rivka's rather vehement opposition to assisted suicide, I was a bit surprised and a little nervous about why she had such strong feelings. Once I heard her reasoning, *I* realized that we're both strong supporters of caring for people who are dying. We don't "agree, (she, or I ) just (doesn't/don't) know it yet" - but we're on the same side. We both want to see people die as peacefully/happily as possible.
I haven't been in a situation in which my thoughts on assisted suicide had any relationship to a person's medical treatment. My opinions are subject to change if/when that happens. But I'm not willing to rule out assisted suicide. I'm not comfortable if it's taken off the table entirely. And I am awfully nervous that a lot of people who oppose assisted suicide are the same kind of people who'd refuse to take someone off a respirator (or a feeding tube) if they had the power to do so. But - I agree wholeheartedly that *if* a person chooses assisted suicide, it should not be out of fear of end of life suffering, or a result of a predictable set of emotional reactions to news of one's impending death, and that we, as a society, are much better if we push for good hospice care and good support for the dying, rather than letting assisted suicide be the answer.