Paraphlegic man wants right to die, to starve to death

It is totally beyond my understanding why people don’t have the freedom to decide about their life. Why a paraplegic person can be forced to live a life that is torture, hell. Who are these people, who are these laws that want to force people to suffer? Animals have the right to be sedated and put to sleep. The Humane society would never tolerate an animal being kept alive and suffering for years.

It is also absurd that the guy has to painfully starve himself to death instead of being allowed to be put to sleep humanely (or should I say with dignity only allowed to animals)

A 49-YEAR-OLD quadriplegic who says his life is a “living hell” will find out whether he can starve himself to death as early as next Friday.
The Brightwater Care Group has lodged an application seeking advice on whether the nursing home should continue feeding Mr Rossiter, despite his wish to starve to death.
Mr Rossiter has described his situation in total paralysis as unbearable. He is in 24-hour care at Brightwater, in Perth’s northern suburbs.
Speaking through a tracheotomy tube, Mr Rossiter said he wasn’t afraid of dying, just the pain. Mr Rossiter yesterday told Perth Now that Australia should adopt Switzerland’s euthanasia laws and allow people freedom of choice in their right to live or die.
“I’m hoping the courts won’t force them (nursing home staff) to sustain me,” Mr Rossiter said.

Source: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25896071-2,00.html

  1. Add to this the huge cost of his life, 24 hour care. This will be paid by his money, until it runs out, by insurances and by society. Can we afford this luxury?
  2. Would he have the right to refuse to pay for treatment?
  3. To me it is obviously a human right to end one’s life,  for a person that never will recover, never will have a dignified life, that never even would remain alive if not kept alive artificially,

It gets more problematic if

  • a fairly healthy person wanted to die. Or if somewhat sick and frail people want to die because life is no more productive nor a joy.
  • Or if a very sick person did not want to die, but society would have to pay huge cost to keep her or him alive. If they did not, that would be cruel? well look at all these people whose life could be improved by very expensive medical procedures, but are not because nobody wants to pay for it.

Also it is very sad that people are only allowed to be taken off life support to die a slow starving death, not a dignified pleasant death.

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