Terry Pratchett on assisted dying

[irrenderNarr42]

i feel that his opinion with assisted dying is in some case linked with his opinons about alzheimer, atleast because he has alzheimer him self. anyway i hope that this truns out not "to" bad for him and his family.

[2BarKawi]

@Brady2k10 What "Process" do you speak of? The process of suffering from an incurable disease, or being paralysed? And if you're some religious twat, you should fuck off and not reply.

[Brady2k10]

@2BarKawi ive removed the comment, i dont like being drawn back to this video so please no one reply to this, all ill say is that im in no position to judge here and i wont.

[elzakrasz]

I completely agree w/Sir Prathchett:if your dog were to suffer a condition,in dire pain,w/no hope of recovery,everyone would tell you to do the "humane thing" and end his suffering.Why is it that we cannot be allowed to do the "humane thing" for fellow humans,or even to decide it for ourselves?Our loved ones and we ourselves are forced to endure sometimes years of pain and misery because of someone's "slippery slope" horror story of healthy teens being put to sleep by their doctors?Insane+cruel.

[Jcolinsol]

I'm more of a radical than Pratchett, I just think anybody should be allowed to off themselves anytime. And, just to clarify the question of assisted suicide, if we already allow abortion, it seems reasonable to me that the old and infirm should be fair game as well. Hell, logically, if we're going to allow AS and abortion, we should just legalize murder in general.

[GlassDancerz]

Very Very true. And agreeable. I feel in a society that allows for an animal to be *put down* when it is extremely ill, it is completely agreeable for a human to be assisted in death. In certain curcumstances such as when dying from an EXTREMEly painful illness such as cancer etc assisted death is ok. Is our lives not in our control?

[Spideredd]

While i disagree with the points raised, i think it is a brave thing to talk about it so frankly

[Barrilera]

@rodiel89 Yes, Rodiel, I'm going to kill you because I am against killing *roll of eyes* You disagree. That's fine. I just hope you never become a psychiatrist and have to treat anyone with depression :P

[Barrilera]

@rodiel89 Also, please do not hint on a constitution to prove a point. Just because a president wrote it, doesn't mean it's right. And I'm quite sure the people who wrote that constitution would agree.

[Barrilera]

@rodiel89 You haven't read or understood a single thing, have you? Terry Pratchett talks about people making the decision because they are suffering, or depending on a machine to stay alive. -I- am talking about evil people making healthy people THINK they should ask for euthanasia. What would you say if a depressed 18 year old came to the hospital and said "I can't stand my life. I want assisted suicide." ? I'm quite sure Sir terry pratchett would agree with me that it would be unacceptable.

[Barrilera]

@rodiel89 Well, the problem is, if euthanasia becomes a common thing, it could become a dangerous weapon. Greedy selfish people could work to "convince" an old family member that euthanasia is the right thing to do, just so they would get rid of them. Don't think of now but...think of the consequences in 30 or 40 years time. What if euthanasia looses all its tabu and is seen as a very "normal" common thing to do? People who suffer from depression could start thinking of assisted euthanasia.

[stradeybar]

One can legitimately refuse treatment that has little advantage and is considered overly burdensome. So there are choices? The only living will should be that doctors will always do what’s in our best interest. Losing control over our care doesnt mean we lose our dignity. We lose our dignity by the choices we make. Like the choice to ramble on about assisted suicide without thinking of the consequences for millions of vulnerable people who could be devalued. I like his novels.

[imasinnerimasaint]

@stradeybar You've never been a caregiver, have you?

[stradeybar]

@imasinnerimasaint I appreciate his point; I may have been harsh in my criticism. I’ve been a caregiver. I’ve seen lots of people die in the context of modern palliative care. None who have died without dignity. What do you consider ‘dignity’ to be? I too am frightened of losing control. But I also realise that I can’t always be in control and that there are things in this world that are kind of incomparable to my experience, like the principle of never directly killing anyone

[wid85]

Terry pratchett is an absolute hero for disability rights, and I greatly admire him. He's totally transformed the way many people think about dementia, for example, writing prize winning books whilst having dementia. My only addition to what he said would be that its important for society to be structured in such a way that people with severe impairements can participate so that they can benifit society and themselves and have a life they considder worth living rather than opting for death.

[CrixMakin]

I'm completely with Terry Pratchett on this.

[DancingWoof]

Spot on! A delicate argument for a delicate subject.

Go Terry! You'll pull through!

[jazzx251]

I think Pratchett is what Douglas Adams would have been like if he lived long enough.

[Bjarku]

i had literally this exact thought a few days ago.

[TheReasonWhyGuy]

GOD, I thought this as a dan dennet video for a second there XD

[gillianinoz]

Trust Mr Pratchett to give us the most human and humane comments on this subject so far. The man is a treasure.

[CliveEHill]

Mr. Pratchett is talking about a special case of approaching a difficult decision sensibly. This cannot always be assumed. The law also has to protect people. With euthenasia will come a lot of complications.

Amnesty says "The death penalty is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent ". Euthenasia is irrevocable, can we be 100% certain that there is not some mistake? Can the law separate cases of compassion from cases of error or abuse, and can we pay the price of getting it wrong?

[UbiquitousChe]

These risks are valid.

The risks of getting it wrong must be balanced against the very dominant and certain hazard of not trying to get it right in the first place - a needlessly torturous decline into an irrevocable, inevitable death.

They must also be balanced against what I feel is my intrinsic right to do with my body and my life as I see fit. If a peaceful and painless death is what I choose to pursue, it's my bloody life - the state should keep its claws out of it.

[ch0p86]

here here

[jezkemp]

Love Pratchett and I love his articulate nature. This is brilliant.

Alzheimer's is a shit.

[Perrine234]

Great video. Much more compassionate and reasonable than anyone on the pro-life side.

[VeroniqueCG]

The problem for those who make a decision to die is that they are denied safe, reliable means to enable their decision.

That is why they are often found dangling at the end of a rope or dead from carbon monoxide in the car or from an concoction of pills or a gunshot or a deliberate 'accident'.

Suicide is not just despair as Pratchett sees it. It has to do with the lack of society's preparedness to accept that people have a right to die as they have a right to live. Religion doesn't help.

[tonyjones595]

Or they may join Al-Qaeda and detonate themselves at a pro-life rally, turning them into an unrecognisable paste. Which would be far more useful than what the pro-lifers were doing before.

[Pa1impsest]

Thank you Terry for your thoughtful and sensible comments.

[cthulhex]

Terry Pratchett & BHA. This video is the intersection of two favourites of mine. Profound topic and emotional given the circumstances, simply awesome BritishHumanists, thank you for this.