For the people that say only god can take their life, what is your thought on putting animals down? People always say when an animal is suffering, the humane thing to do is to put the animal down. I watched my mother suffer for 7 years with Alzheimer’s, it was horrible. When she finally died, she weighed 80 pounds, was in the fetal position for months with huge painful bedsores. What finally killed her was starvation. If it’s up to god when she dies....why would he make her suffer like that? We would never do that to an animal, why do it to a human?

I think that anyone who suffers daily or has a terminal illness should be allowed to have that choice. It's a matter of quality vs quantity. We are keeping people alive by any means, most who just want to be free from all the pain and misery. We put our animals to sleep, we don't allow them to suffer.

@A MyFibroTeam Member, you said “At what point did the focus switch from preserving life to ending life? Assisted suicide suggests that some lives are less worth living.”

I don’t understand any of that statement. If you read my story about my mother suffering with Alzheimer’s, you know she died from starvation. At end stage Alzheimer’s they forget how to swallow or refuse to eat. I could have told them to put a feeding tube in so she didn’t starve. Feeding tubes can be very painful, she didn’t talk so she could never tell anyone if it was hurting. Why should/would I do that? My mother was in the fetal position for months with horrible painful bedsores. She didn’t move, she couldn’t even sit up. So you think a feeding tube (preserving life) to keep her alive so she can lay in bed pretty much comatose is preserving life? I wish assisted suicide was available in our state. I would have done it in a heartbeat. I knew my mother’s wishes, and it wasn’t to live like that. So yes, some lives are less worth living. Would you want to live like that knowing it is hurting your loved ones watching you slowly die? I sure wouldn’t, that’s why I have a DNR (my mother had one also) if I don’t have a quality of life, I don’t want anyone to preserve it.

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A MyFibro...

Absolutely. I think it is outrageous that suicide is "illegal and one is considered mentally ill to commit it. It makes perfect sense to me if a person is experiencing unremitting pain, painful treatments, whatever and wants to end that suffering. I can't understand what it is that makes people think it is their business what another person wants to do with their life.

What I do with my body is between my maker and me, especially if the powers that be have legislated me into a corner or a care facility or out of my home because I am other. These laws aren't federal, but the ground is shifting people. I don't know what toward.

With challenges finding good care, or medical care at all, I can relate to desperation. I try to parse out needs carefully, to not overburden a weak support system. What will happen as I age? No children, no close relatives? Why wouldn’t I exit before I am at the hands of strangers and this ridiculous “system”.