What is your opinion on euthanasia?

[missourimary]

I would struggle with any decision I had to make about a family member regarding this. For myself, I prefer as little medical intervention as possible, but if there is a situation where I need intervention and there is good probability of prolonged quality of life, then by all means, intervene.

For many people, there is a huge difference between intervening in the life of a young person and allowing nature to take it's course in an elderly person. My grandfather was injured in his 80s. He continued to have quality of life. However, there came a point in his 90s where he was on a number of medications, began having other medical issues, and was finally put into a nursing home. The last time I saw him, the tall, square shouldered, hard working man I'd always known as Grandpa was curled in a fetal position, too weak to get out of bed, and was begging the nurse to leave him alone. A DNR was the most loving option, for him and for the entire family. No one pulled any meds or tubes, but no further meds were prescribed and no feeding tubes were allowed, either.

Is that euthenasia? I don't think so. Modern science is capable of a lot of things. But sometimes mercy is a better option than medicine.