Would voluntary euthanasia become legal if we protested and petitioned lawmakers?

[sserafim]

Would voluntary euthanasia become legal if we protested and petitioned lawmakers? We should all get together and protest for the right to die, as well as write to lawmakers and ask them to make voluntary euthanasia legal. It's absurd that it's intentionally restricted. We're all forced onto this planet against our will, no one gets a choice or say in being born, yet we're not even allowed to peacefully leave or (choose when we want to) leave on our own terms. People have to resort to bloody, violent and painful methods with a high chance of risk, failure and permanent damage if they want out. The right to die isn't even our own, it's controlled by other people. It's my life (to live), my body and my choice. We shouldn't be forced to live against our will. We should all have access to a guaranteed and peaceful death.

 

[hikikomorizombie]

absolutely not, lol. & not just for euthanasia, neither of those things are effective for anything else either.

 

[Fractal]

Maybe when climate change and civilization really starts falling apart. That's another reason I want to go. I don't want to be here for that.

 

[Grumble]

Oh don't even get me started on this.

Canada just spent eight years poising to legalize assisted dying for the mentally ill. EIGHT YEARS!!! And just last month, they effectively cancelled their plans to make it available.

So never mind protesting and petitioning. The government spent millions of dollars researching it, they had the support of the legal system, they set a date for it to take effect... All this, and they STILL didn't follow through!! I don't know what a few protests and petitions are going to do. If anything, what you'll get is protesting and petitioning against it. Because people are pretty useless like that.

 

[WhiteRabbit]

Not a chance.

1. There aren't enough of us. 2. Protesting (at least in the USA) doesn't do jack shit these days. 3. I feel like euthanasia is a pretty unpopular cause, unless it's for people with terminal illnesses or very serious physical health conditions.

 

[Final_Choice]

Absolutely not (at least in the US), every person is a human resource working for the machine we call society. Once you turn 18 you are expected to work in some way for this machine. This would allow people to opt out of this, there is no way anyone from the government would allow this as you would open a door for anyone to just suddenly stop contributing to society.

Instead, if you grab people who attempt and break them down to build them back up to force a pro-life mindset onto them, they'll only temporarily stop contributing and be able to go back to work as opposed to permanently losing a human resource. I don't know about other countries, but the US will probably never allow this unless massive changes occur to the government.

 

[Orange Cat]

No. There's not enough of public support for it. Most people would be outraged if they passed a law saying that anyone could go to a clinic and receive assisted suicide for any reason. Most people would be horrified at the idea that their relatives could sneak off to a clinic and end their life at anytime. They would vote the politicians out off office

 

[sserafim]

Absolutely not (at least in the US), every person is a human resource working for the machine we call society. Once you turn 18 you are expected to work in some way for this machine. This would allow people to opt out of this, there is no way anyone from the government would allow this as you would open a door for anyone to just suddenly stop contributing to society.

Instead, if you grab people who attempt and break them down to build them back up to force a pro-life mindset onto them, they'll only temporarily stop contributing and be able to go back to work as opposed to permanently losing a human resource. I don't know about other countries, but the US will probably never allow this unless massive changes occur to the government.

Ugh I hate that we're all slaves to capitalism and society. I hate that people have to work for a living just to survive. I wish that we didn't have to contribute...

 

[Final_Choice]

Ugh I hate that we're all slaves to capitalism and society. I hate that people have to work for a living just to survive. I wish that we didn't have to contribute...

Me too, I wish it wasn't like this. I feel like if the government and healthcare actually cared it might be possible, but profit is kind of their main priority and according to crisis counseling organizations, 98% of people who attempt do so in an impulse and don't truly want to die, so I feel like they'd just use this stat and ignore the minority of people who would want voluntary euthanasia.

 

[Heartaches]

Think about this question from time to time but quickly toss it out because I just find it too hard in many ways. I don't think it's impossible but I think it'd be very risky thing to advocate for; might be exaggerating, but I think it could possibly ruin your life entirely. I feel it's one of those things even the most progressive folks would struggle to openly discuss; seen people trying to destigmatize suicide and not default to pro-life narratives, but never propose the possibility that your average joe could willingly take their own life and have that choice be supported. I've met irl people who support the idea of voluntary euthanasia/death/suicide/whatever you wanna call it, although it's something they only talk with people they trust.

Not only that, but I'm also not sure how many people who are supportive of the idea would be willing to organize. I bet most of them just wanna die, they already struggle with day-to-day systemic issues, another comittment among all the internal and external suffering they're going though would probably not be very enticing.

Moreover, euthanasia for the terminally ill is already a highly contempted and debated topic, it's been legalized in very few countries at a snail's pace. Anything that has to do with bodily autonomy and/or the termination of life carries a ton of stigma and barriers, with no guarantee those rights will be granted forever. Just look at abortion in the US and other parts of the world.

I think it'd be wonderful if we built communities to fight for our right to die but I find it difficult for now or in the near future. I know a lot of major changes to the system in history have started as highly unpopular, highly risky causes; and that time doesn't wait for change; however, I feel this is a topic that will burn very, very slowly before it's ready to be served and presented to a wider audience. I feel SaSu allows us to defy the system and its pro-life beliefs in a very small but kinda significant way; I wouldn't be surprised if other websites, forums and other sorts of places with similar ideas will spring up in the next couple of years. Suicide method/guide books have existed for decades and will continue to, so when there's a will, there's a way.

Tl;dr: It'd be very hard to have an organized movement to legalize voluntary euthanasia now or in the near future due to a variety of factors, but that doesn't mean there isn't resistance, it just isn't visible most of the time.​

 

[EyesOfNight]

Protesting wouldn't achieve anything. You would just be seen as a crazy person.
Euthanasia for the terminally ill speaks to the compassion in humans while voluntary euthanasia speaks to logic alone. Given that logic changes based on perspective, it's simply not possible to convince enough people to support voluntary euthanasia.
Best we can hope for is that someone in those countries that offer euthanasia makes it work in a profitable way so that other countries adapt it out of greed.

 

[sserafim]

Protesting wouldn't achieve anything. You would just be seen as a crazy person.
Euthanasia for the terminally ill speaks to the compassion in humans while voluntary euthanasia speaks to logic alone. Given that logic changes based on perspective, it's simply not possible to convince enough people to support voluntary euthanasia.
Best we can hope for is that someone in those countries that offer euthanasia makes it work in a profitable way so that other countries adapt it out of greed.

What about euthanasia for the disabled, mentally or physically ill? I think that this speaks to the compassion in humans as well. I have ASD and personally I believe that it should qualify for (voluntary) euthanasia. There's no treatment, no medication, no cure; you have to live in a world that's not the right fit for your neurotype. It's basically like being on the wrong planet. The compassionate thing to do would be to not force me to live on a planet that wasn't built or meant for me.

 

[Young.Werther]

I don't think it'd work. I've seen some reports about voluntary euthanasia in Belgium by big media organizations (BBC, NYTimes) and the pro-life mindset is just so ingrained. I distinctly remember the reporters reactions, they just couldn't fathom why anyone would ever want to CTB. It was totally alien to them. I mean the best way I can think of to describe it was someone setting foot into a totally different culture. Like they don't dare to say anything since they're the strangers, but there's also a total inability to understand their surroundings.

What sucks is that the stories sound so beautiful. One of them followed this girl in Bruges. Her last day seemed quite nice, she had a picnic and said her farewells. Actually the day was so nice she ended up canceling and then going back a few months later. Really the epitome of pro-choice I think. Maybe I need to move to Belgium…

But no, I don't think this is something which will happen soon.

 

[EyesOfNight]

What about euthanasia for the disabled, mentally or physically ill? I think that this speaks to compassion as well. I have ASD and I believe that it should qualify...

The issue with just being ill (especially mentally) is that people assume that you can get better and that you should do everything you possibly can to do so. "Since others managed to get better you should too".

 

[cryone]

ppl have been protesting and lobbying, but nothing works. exit international is itself an activist group for voluntary euthanasia w/ old members n it was + is very ineffective. Average age was around 70 back in 2011. if lawmakers wouldn't believe them, i highly HIGHLY doubt they would believe us, a forum made primarily of young members who have documented mental illnesses.

 

[Captive_Mind515]

I think it will remain an underground movement (sorry bad pun) for many years to come.

Communities like this one are very important though, because they allow people to connect and share ideas. At some point, I could see a new method emerging from this community that will be impossible for authorities to prevent. Then the genie is out of the the bottle, and governments will be in reactive mode.... they don't like being put on the back foot, and are poor at reacting to fast moving trends.

Tbh, I don't want a bunch of sanctimonious pro-lifers to approve of my death. They can go fuck themselves, I don't need their (or wider society's) approval.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

Not unless we can get some big influential names like Taylor Swift or Elon Musk to start advocating for our side and those two are some of the least likely people ever to live to have any reason to become suicidal…

 

[ijustwishtodie]

Sorry but I don't think this will happen any time soon as much as I want it to happen. I don't even think that the majority of us here need euthanasia, what we need is just access to a peaceful method like nembutal. If we had that, then euthanasia isn't necessary for the majority of people as they could just take nembutal instead. Unfortunately we don't even have access to this. I think that, if euthanasia for people like us were to be accepted, it would happen in a millennium at a minimum. I wish I was using a hyperbole there but I genuinely I think that it will take 1000+ years before something like this could happen.. if it ever happens. Hopefully I'm wrong and it'll come far, far earlier but what's guaranteed is that it won't be available for multiple generations due to how pro life people are

This world is beyond cruel. If we have to ctb, we have to resort to a brutal and painful method. The best we have is SN and, even then, not everybody can access that

What about euthanasia for the disabled, mentally or physically ill? I think that this speaks to the compassion in humans as well. I have ASD and personally I believe that it should qualify for (voluntary) euthanasia. There's no treatment, no medication, no cure; you have to live in a world that's not the right fit for your neurotype. It's basically like being on the wrong planet. The compassionate thing to do would be to not force me to live on a planet that wasn't built or meant for me.

I believe that people like us with autism should be allowed euthanasia. Actually, I think that many adults should be allowed euthanasia no matter the reason. It's their body hence their choice what to do with it. But, yes, despite autism being an awful mental disorder, pro lifers don't think it's that bad of an issue. They can't understand the struggle that we go through and this understanding gets worse when they see stereotypes of autistic people on media like TV shows and so forth (stereotypes like the autistic person who is a super genius for example).

I relate to everything that you said about autism
Actually, I related to a lot of what you said on this site in general and you provided me a lot of solace in that regard. I think that autism is one of the worst mental disorders but not the worst as there are things like schizophrenia and psychosis. I don't understand how a lot of people see autism as a mild thing. It irreparably fucked up my life before my life even started. I don't think I would have the mindset about life as I currently do if it wasn't for autism. We deserve a peaceful exit out of life if we don't want to participate in it. We never asked to be here so the least that could happen is us being allowed a peaceful exit out of life

 

[Final_Choice]

So I decided to run a little anonymous survey with students in my university. I asked: "Should medical euthanasia be allowed for doctors to put mentally ill patients to sleep after they've exhausted all other options?"

12 hours in, I've received 697 responses split between 3 different options to choose from.
240 answered yes.
253 answered no.
204 chose not to response.

Additionally I had a comment section for anyone to give a more detailed response or alternatives which should be implemented. No one gave any alternatives, most initial comments were just saying how it should not be allowed but they also received replies from others disagreeing with them and saying that it should be part of one's rights. I imagine the ability to post comments anonymously caused people to actually defend their position, as I doubt they wouldn't have done so if they had to give their name.

I'm a bit surprised as I thought more people would be against it, I feel like maybe, just maybe, down the line in the future some sort of medical euthanasia might be implemented as a right of each citizen. Though even if it does happen, it won't be anytime soon.

 

[Homo erectus]

If euthanasia benefits some people in power, it may happen. People's choice and mass protests are hardly relevant to their decision making. Now automation is everywhere. They don't need that many people. Living human is a major source of carbon emissions. That's probably why they are trying out new things: transhumanism, fusing human and robot, human becoming robot, or vice versa? Low carbon human?

 

[february in alaska]

Not unless we can get some big influential names like Taylor Swift or Elon Musk to start advocating for our side and those two are some of the least likely people ever to live to have any reason to become suicidal…

Ironically I think Elon Musk actually is pro-choice when it comes to suicide? As much as I despise the man he did have some good tweets a while back on how awful immortality sounds and how people should get to decide whether or not they go

I doubt even celebrities would help much in this argument, though. I feel like statistically suicidal people are always going to lose this fight, because more likely than not suicidal people will end up catching the bus before they can do any proper activism towards the right to die. And I don't think the majority of living suicidal people are in the best mental space to be advocates anyway

That's the irony of it I guess. It's hard for a group of people to make substantial change when that group is constantly killing itself off, lol

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

Ironically I think Elon Musk actually is pro-choice when it comes to suicide? As much as I despise the man he did have some good tweets a while back on how awful immortality sounds and how people should get to decide whether or not they go

I remember that, though I forgot about it when I mentioned. I only brought up those two names because they're the first that come to mind when I think of people with fandoms so blind they'll support anything these individuals believe and they're quite numerous in quantity too.

 

[Young.Werther]

I don't even think that the majority of us here need euthanasia, what we need is just access to a peaceful method like nembutal. If we had that, then euthanasia isn't necessary for the majority of people as they could just take nembutal instead.

I agree that this would be huge, but if we're building fantasies I think having societally sanctioned (as in accepted) euthanasia would be huge. It'd let people say a proper goodbye to whoever they want instead of a note. Also this way you're not alone in all the planning and you prevent some easily anticipated side effects. For instance, nobody is going to stumble into a corpse when they enter your hotel room and get traumatized or something.

Of course this is all fantasy since they're not going to let either happen in a thousand years like you said.

 

[slightoverlooked]

seeing the german Federal Court of Justice deny two terminally ill patients assisted suicide makes me think 100 percent no.

 

[Ferdinand Bardamu]

No because petitioning does literally nothing

 

[Euthanza]

Regardless of what state or country you are located, please submit your letter in support of medical aid in dying without borders via abetterexit.org

Here is the link to a template if you want to use it https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CoRJTnKvZB79RRjIA37zqqH74sTNgrgaD7usb2ftTOw/edit?usp=drivesdk

The deadline is Monday, April 15th for the hearing by the California State Senate Health Committee on the 22nd.