Family Seeks Permission for Euthanasia.....Help ! !

sanket · **Family Seeks Permission for Euthanasia.....Help ! ! -** 10-05-2006, 05:16 AM

In the wee hours of the morning, I switch on my computer, log on to the net and come straight to pagalguy.com, expecting that there would already be a thread on this issue. To my disappointment, I cannot find any. Then I go to the Mumbai Community Service thread almost sure that I would find a post or two about it. But, again the same result.
In the midst of bigger issues like reservation in private sectors and central institutions, which directly affect us, we quite often miss those issues that are not important for us.
I am referring to a front page news article in The Times of India, Mumbai that brings into light a family that has filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking permission for mercy killing. It was the first thing I read in the morning and I was disturbed the whole day. Reading about the plights of that family distressed me a lot and I decided to do something for the family. I thought that writing about it and making people aware will aid in bringing some help for the family. And to write about it, I could not find a better place than this.
Sometimes, this contrast between these two types of people, first, who die to live after having committed the most heinous of all crimes and second, who die to die even after having led their lives as spinelessly as it could be astonishes me. But when I look beyond the façade, I get the answer. People who fall in the first category, like those involved in Jessica Lal murder know that if they live, their visible struggle ends there. But those who fall in the second category, like these people in the news today know that if they live, their struggle intensifies and might become an absolutely unmanageable affair.
Thankfully, this gentleman called Mukhtar Ahmed Shaikh did a very smart thing of filing this petition in the SC, which got the media attention that his family desperately needed. Whether it was an intentional attempt or not, to draw attention of the society towards his plights is contentious and equally immaterial. Whether it was or wasnt, I feel that Mukhtar Ahmed has possibly managed to save lives of his family members who otherwise, sooner or later, would have been left with no option but to give up their lives to free themselves of the long stood despair. Mukhtar Ahmed, an asthamatic himself, has a wife, an uterine cancer survivor, two kids who suffer from an incurable limb dysfunction and one more kid who, thankfully for the family, is healthy. Mukhtar earns a very petty amount every month which is not sufficient to afford treatment for his two kids. “Not sufficient” here is an understatement.
For people like these, Government should have some sort of Social Guarantee Scheme which would ensure that physically handicapped people like Mukhtar’s two kids can lead a life on their own. These kind of schemes will be extremely burdensome on the Governments Budgets but with the help of Private Sector, it doesn’t seem impossible. After all, private sector also has some social responsibilities and I am sure it would not mind spending money on noble causes like this. But, instead of taking initiatives like this, Government wants to enforce laws that are least called for, laws which would help them gain vote banks. And it is this greed for more votes in the tightly fought elections these days, that has caused the government to give up its rationality and become blindfolded to the clearly visible fact that reservations do not bring about upliftment of those sections of the society that need protection. It is the economically backward class that needs to be brought ahead and not the socially backward. And how exactly do we define socially backward? Is it that class in which first generation is “protected” IAS officers and second generation “protected” IITians or “protected” IIM grads. If the Government is so concerned about them, then it should try and work on the problem at the root level and should try and make them capable of competing with the others. If many of you think that I am digressing from the topic, then let me assure you that I am not. This thought of reservation came to my mind when I thought of the fifth member of that underprivileged family, 19 year old Khalid, the youngest of all the kids. Isn’t he a perfect candidate to be “protected”? Yes, if you look at it rationally, he is. But at the same time, he is not because the Constitution of India doesn’t recognize him as “protected”. Nor will it recognize him in near future because these kind of families do not make a substantial part of the population. Hence, they are not amongst those coveted vote banks.
But, sitting here and blaming the Government will not be of any help to Mukhtar’s family. The situation demands for an action. It demands that we, who are futures of tomorrow, take an affirmative step towards making the society better. Its high time, we must accept social responsibility.
Quite often, I pose these questions to myself. What benefits will I be able to give to the society once I pass out of a good B-school? Will I be able to change life of even a single person who does not have the desire to live? Will I be able to do something that recreates that desire in him? Honestly speaking, I don’t know.
But today, I want to take an initiative. I have the will to do something for that family. And I want you all to join hands and help me in rekindling that hope in Mukhtar’s family.

P.S. : pm me if any of u wanna help. We can get together and decide our course of action.

sanket

Wake Up Mumbai

floyd&vodka

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanket

Wake Up Mumbai

Can you please post the link to this news article as well

sanket

Quote:

Originally Posted by floyd&vodka

Can you please post the link to this news article as well

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1521557.cms

Uptowngal

I am completely against euthanasia...was plannin to start a poll on it....nyway,as mentioned on one of my posts earlier"We do not have the right to take away what we cannot restore"...Life is all bout hope...even though it may be a flickering candle.....

sanket

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uptowngal

I am completely against euthanasia...was plannin to start a poll on it....nyway,as mentioned on one of my posts earlier"We do not have the right to take away what we cannot restore"...Life is all bout hope...even though it may be a flickering candle.....

A delightful thought...i second it.

warrior · **Euthanasia - Mercy Killing -** 24-11-2006, 07:42 PM

Motivation for starting this thread is the play which I had seen some years back. In that a chronically ill pateint came to a doctor for treatment. In the course of treatment both doctor and the patient came close to each other and become close friends. The doctor wasn't able to see his friends suffer (he knew that no treatment is possible for such a disease) and kills him.

So is the doctor justified in doing so. In a way it is better for all the patient, his family and the doctor himself. Patient has to die some day as there is no cure for it so it better to die with less suffering. Also patient family is also under stress both emotionally and economically beacuse of his illness. Doctor too was disturbed personally beacuse of the condition of his friend.

So here's something to ponder upon. Should Euthanasia be legalised ?

Euthanasia: the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit. (The key word here is "intentional". If death is not intended, it is not an act of euthanasia)

Terms involved
# Voluntary euthanasia: When the person who is killed has requested to be killed.
# Non-voluntary: When the person who is killed made no request and gave no consent.
# Assisted suicide: Someone provides an individual with the information, guidance, and means to take his or her own life with the intention that they will be used for this purpose. When it is a doctor who helps another person to kill themselves it is called "physician assisted suicide."

Reasons for Euthanasia

1. Unbearable pain
2. Right to commit suicide
3. People should not be forced to stay alive

Arguments Against Euthanasia

1. Euthanasia would not only be for people who are "terminally ill"
2. Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment
3. Euthanasia will become non-voluntary
4. Euthanasia is a rejection of the importance and value of human life

THE ALTERNATIVE TO EUTHANASIA

The alternative to legalized euthanasia is not extraordinary, futile treatment to hopelessly dying patients. The alternatives are appropriate medical care - including 1) the withdrawal of treatment upon patient request, or if that treatment serves no therapeutic purpose; and 2) dispensing drugs as necessary to control pain. No doctors, laws, or organizations oppose ceasing care when the time to die has arrived.

International Perspective

The world medical community considers both euthanasia and assisted suicide to be in conflict with basic ethical principles of medical practice. The World Medical Association, with members representing medical associations (including the American Medical Association) from eighty-two countries, has adopted strong resolutions condemning both practices and urging all national medical associations and physicians to refrain from participating in them even if national law allows or decriminalizes the practices

Furthermore, in deciding an assisted-suicide case, the European Court of Human Rights found that its "prohibition on the use of lethal force or other conduct that might lead to the death of a human being did not confer any claim on an individual to require a State to permit or facilitate his or her death." The European Court judges described the prohibition as a measure intended to protect the weak and the vulnerable.

In spite of the nearly universal rejection of assisted suicide and euthanasia because they are outside of the bounds of legitimate medical practice, several jurisdictions, in addition to the state of Oregon, have or did permit either or both euthanasia and assisted suicide in recent years.

Australia
In 1995, with the passage of the "Rights of the Terminally Ill (ROTI) Act," Australia’s Northern Territory became the only jurisdiction in the world with both legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia. The law went into effect in July 1996. It was repealed on March 25, 1997.

The Netherlands
Euthanasia and assisted suicide have been widely practiced in the Netherlands for a number of years. Unlike their professional counterparts in other nations, Dutch physicians have led the way in permitting the practices – practices that illustrate how physician-advocacy of induced death can expand and be used to justify virtually unlimited euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Belgium
The Belgian act legalizing euthanasia was passed on May 28, 2002 and went into effect on September 23, 2002.