: "determining where 'intent' moves from
: the relief of suffering to the taking of
: life, is, so often, not easy" , unless
: this, too was the advancment of the
: "agonising" argument, viz. if one
: "agonises" - a favourite word for
: politicians advocating abortion - long
: enough before committing a sin, that makes
: it no longer sinful.
Take it at face value, John. Some people die very difficult deaths and it can be hard to know where to draw the (ethical) line. That's my point.
If you want to extrapolate from that, go ahead.
: True, and that is a good reason, where
: possible, to obtain the sick person's wishes
: before the situation becomes desperate, but
: the failure of others in the family to
: understand ethics and morals is no reason to
: abandon them.
Again, I'm not suggesting anyone abandon ethics and morals.
: In regard to the question of
: prolonging the suffering, that is what
: modern palliative care is all about -
: searching for the minimum level of pain
: relief that works, even though, eventually,
: a mortal dose is reached. The intent is
: still the relief of suffering, not the death
: of the patient.
Yep, there's no doubt we need more and better palliative care. But a decision still has to be made and, again, that can be very difficult.
: Again, true, and a very good reason to
: develop a well-informed conscience well in
: advance.
Indeed. If everyone who has an 'stake' in the death of a loved one came to that time with a well-informed conscience, determining where to draw the line would be much less fraught. If only.
: And those patients who would regard
: treatment as "burdensome and
: futile" are free to instruct their
: rellies that they wish a "Do not
: resuscitate" order to be applied, but
: in the absence of such instruction by the
: patient, rellies are not free to issue such
: an order on the patient's behalf.
Well actually, they are. Those with the power of attorney can issue such an order if they believe it reflects the will of the person.
But, setting that aside, the loved ones still have to have a clear idea of what point the dying person would like the DNR to apply.
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