On a personal front, this is an option I want in the future. From a law student perspective, the law would need to be very narrow in order to prevent abuses, unfortunately the cost is that some who should be able to benefit will not but it’s better than the alternative.

I'm fine with it. I think everyone should be able to die with dignity.

It's more difficult to put in place for someone who has significant mental health issues because there is a chance of recovery and no way to know that they will never recover or manage their symptoms of their mental disorder. I can't imagine any physicians would sign off on someone with a mental health disorder opting for assisted dying.

better than blowing your brains out

My mother watched her grandmother deteriorate from ALS. She tried to kill her self 5 times. All I remember of my great-grandmother was a woman who couldn’t leave her bed, and barely speak. Medically assisted death would have meant she didn’t have to suffer. So, it has my full support.

Less than a week ago I completed my practice round in the ICU, the last floor you practice in nursing school. In these 3 and a half years of school I did 2850 hours of practice, including the paediatric oncology floor. What I’ve seen in the ICU made me suffer more than anything. I’m currently writing my dissertation on euthanasia and DNR instructions.

I've worked with hundreds of dying patients at this point. I've seen suffering that is incomprehensible. There is literally no bottom to what a human can go through. It is endless and all consuming. What's worse is in the hospital we have become quite proficient at prolonging suffering. If family members want their loved ones to keep going because they cannot accept their impending death our hands are almost always tied. Do everything. So we do. We shove tubes and drains in every hole. You lie in agony for days, weeks, months, years. Your body can be kept alive long past its expiration date. It will literally start to rot but you can prolong the function of vital organs and so that person must remain trapped in a meat prison. The end is always the same, it just takes longer. It is more horrific than anything you can imagine. All because western cultures cannot face death collectively and often exist in a state of denial about it. Further more often loved ones feel if they are the ones to say stop they're 'killing' their loved ones. Others get concerned about the religious implications, as if some great diety would cast judgment on them for not keeping their family member in a state of purgatory for as long as possible. So to answer your question, after years of taking part in that? Yes. I support euthanasia. I think our threshold for its use should be very low. I see death as an inevitable part of life and one of my greatest joys is being able to help someone pass without pain and in peace with their dignity. Anyone who says otherwise can come hang out in the icu for a few weeks. They can change the dressings, they can look these people in the eye and tell them this must continue, that some arbitrary bullshit rationale is good enough to keep this going.

I just watched my bedridden Grandad finally die after 3+ years of dementia, cancer, and UTIs. I fully support medically assisted death/dying with dignity. He and others like him don't deserve that horrific painful end.

Full support. People should have a choice to die with dignity and on their terms.

If you're not allowed to legally arrange the end of your own life, is it actually your own life?