Originally Posted - June 14, 2006

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Recently, the NY Times came out with an article titled "Aging: Elderly Patients Draw A Line At Mental Impairment". According to the article, 75% were "more likely to prefer death to disability."

Why the bias against mental disability? Why were all age ranges not included in this poll? Is this preference for death over disability subject to the elderly alone? Or do younger patients with a mental illness, who are just as disabled, prefer disability to death? How do we know, since the poll excluded every age specific group, except the elderly?

The poll is impotent when the elicited responses are biased and selective.

The most disturbing aspect of this article is that it gives the assisted suicide and euthanasia proponents more voice to extend their cause with the public policy debate. And sadly, the public will believe what they read without question. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/health/psychology/25agin.html

With severe, chronic depression and other mental illnesses, self rights can often hinder or present a barrier, as Myra Chrisopher likes to state. We often see "self rights" outweigh protection, treatment, and care. In these situations, the legal profession is totally ignorant to the facts, unless they have a loved one who experienced rights trumping treatment and protection, or they are more concerned about rights than protecting and saving lives.

The medical field often finds themselves in the position of foregoing treatment and care to the mentally ill, the demented, the brain injured, the elderly and infirm, and other minority groups, per patient or family wishes or due to asinine laws, even though treatment exists that can help these patients, and all in the name of self rights, self determination, and autonomy.

This type of mind set that healthcare has had to adopt and adapt, and that policy makers have set, and the media, such as the NY Times has reported to the public, all sets the stage for abuse of all mentally ill persons in this country.

"Living With Mental Illness", an article in USA Today, describes a father whose son quit taking his medication, and because he thought the pills were "poison" the hospital refused to treat him. This could easily be an Alzheimer's patient or one with dementia refusing medications, surgeries or treatments, and the medical field has to halt all care and treatment, to respect self rights over care and protection. Why should we wonder what has happened to society today when a child is raped and murdered, an elderly victim is starved and dehydrated to death, or the severely brain injured are killed off in the name of mercy and rights, when we condone the acts without speaking out? Society is full of victims, while the perpetrators run free, are awarded and enabled for their behavior and actions, and are never brought to justice. So many of us in society are so damn complacent, we do not take time to fight for what we believe is right.

Matters of fact, we often do not take time to read and analyze what the media, the government, and special interest groups and think tanks are telling us.

Holland allows euthanasia for people with mental illness and without a physical illness. The same could easily happen in Oregon and any other state that passes assisted suicide laws, since there are few victims of Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) who are referred to a psychologist or psychiatrist despite their stated intention to commit suicide.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-05-01-mental-illness_x.htm

Suicide and assisted suicide is not self liberation as some proclaim. Suicide is an untreated, undiagnosed mental illness. Assisted suicide is not humane, nor is it merciful.

Advancements in medical technology did not become painful, create pain, or create slow painful deaths in patients. Painful types of death have always been with us. They will never go away.

The differences are our changed moral philosophy; we no longer value human life; we no longer view murder as a horrible crime against humanity; we no longer feel remorse in killing another; we no longer adhere to moral principles that protect the weak, the infirm, the ill, and the elderly.

Take a stand. Do you favor protection of those unable to protect themselves? Or do you favor suicide?

"Medical excellence is not possible without ethical principles" 6-14-06