@rollingf
I understand that Voluntary Assisted Death is a controversial issue. In Australia it is legal, but it is very much an intimate, personal choice. My university- days boyfriend, Allan, battled melanoma on his brain for months, and had several neurosurgeries to try to remove the cancer and a large blood clot on his brain. He never regained consciousness. His loving wife and children took him home, told that he would never recover brain function because of the damage done. He remained in a coma, unconscious for THREE MONTHS. His wife was by his side 24/7, trying to feed him through a tube, and changing his diapers. He had to be turned on his side in the bed every two hours, to avoid bed sores, so someone had to be in attendance on him constantly. In Australia we also have available what we call an Advanced Care Directive, just like a kind of will. It is a legally binding document which many people sign while they are young and healthy, listing the circumstances under which they would want to
withdraw medical treatment (such as ventilators or even CPR). I have signed an Advanced Care Directive, stating that if there is no chance of me recovering quality of life (which I spelt out in detail) I do not want to be put on a ventilator or maintained in an indefinite coma just because my body is "alive". I know various cultures have religious objections to these kinds of arrangements, and I believe it is ultimately a very difficult and personal choice. I know what the end stage of ALS looks like. I know my fate is to deteriorate like that. But I don't want to be unable to swallow or talk, paralyzed and unable to breathe: at some stage I want to say "this is enough, I can't cope like this any more, and I don't want my family to have to care for me for months while I am a vegetable in bed." In Australia I have the option of choosing the way I die, in peace, and that is what I want to do. I know that this is a very controversial and upsetting kind of discussion to have, and I thoroughly respect people who choose to live through the worst and put up with agony, but I believe we should have a CHOICE which patients and their families agree on so that everyone can die with dignity. No-one is going to force withdrawel of medical treatment or assisted death on anyone - to me it is a matter of individual choice, and I am glad that now all Australian states support this legistation. I know I will stir up a hornet's nest with this post, but that is how I feel, I who only have an average of 26 months to live.