[In any case: "It's my life!" So I should have the authority to terminate it if I so decide. (Of course, others must provide all necessary help so as to make one eschew such decision.)
Attempt to commit suicide must be decriminalised; it just does not make any sense. If one succeeds, one is dead and gone. If one fails, and is thereby alive, then face punishing law!] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Doctors-back-right-to-die-want-say-in-Supreme-Court-hearing/articleshow/38707194.cms Doctors back right to die, want say in Supreme Court hearing Rema Nagarajan <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toireporter/author-Rema-Nagarajan.cms>, TNN | Jul 20, 2014, 03.27AM IST The Supreme Court is hearing a plea by an NGO that a person afflicted with a terminal disease should be given relief from agony by withdrawing artificial medical support provided to him. NEW DELHI: The Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine (ISCCM) has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to be impleaded as a party in the case on withdrawal of life support to terminally ill patients. The petition will be taken up at the next hearing of the case. "Doctors have to be a part of this debate as this is primarily between doctors and patients. As doctors we cannot let our patients' rights be scuttled. We are denying people a fundamental right to manage their death according to their wishes. This time we will not sit passively; we will reach out to the public and explain to them how legal opinions have been skewed," said Dr RK Mani, former president of ISCCM and lead author of its position paper on end of life and palliative care in intensive care units. The Supreme Court is hearing a plea by NGO Common Cause that a person afflicted with a terminal disease should be given relief from agony by withdrawing artificial medical support provided to him. A five-judge bench issued notice to all states and Union territories, widening the debate on the issue. "Our position is that if it is a terminal illness and there is suffering, there might be no point in continuing aggressive treatment. Of course, this is dependent on the advice of doctors and also depends on the age of the patient, the kind of illness and so on. It is a complex issue that cannot be simplified in a mathematical formula. We are asking for the right to die with dignity and to die without suffering, just as people have the right to live with dignity," said senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, who has filed the petition on behalf of ISCCM. Dr Mani said that the right terminology was end-of-life decisions and not euthanasia, whether passive or active. "We need to get rid of this word euthanasia which has a Nazi hangover. The word is complicating matters. What we are debating is not euthanasia of any kind as that term is only applicable to a conscious person who is very ill who is asking a doctor to inject him because he feels it is intolerable," explained Dr Mani. In 2012, a paper published in Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine suggested detailed guidelines on end-of-life decisions. The paper was meant "to develop an ethical framework and practical procedure for limiting inappropriate therapeutic interventions to improve the quality of care of the dying in the intensive care unit through a professional consensus process". "We don't need to reinvent the wheel. We just need to look at all the material on the subject published by medical experts and respected medical bodies across the world," said Dr Mani. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
