Assisted suicide and life support.

[Ken]

To answer your first question.

In my mind, assisted suicide is helping someone die who isn't otherwise going to die, at least not imminently.

Letting someone die who is clearly dying (or already brain-dead), rather than using technology to simply prolong their vegetative state is something different.

[Sliceitup]

In response to “how long is it appropriate to wait until pulling the tube?”

In the situation you’re discussing I’m guessing there wouldn’t be much change, but when it’s a head injury then I think it can be hard to have an accurate assessment immediately.

[Bootstrap]

person has a heart attack 20 minutes of cpr with total support required feeding/vent with no detectable brain activity.
Disconnect them from active support and they continue breathing.
1: Is the action of not providing food via tube to this person assisted suicide?
Why? why not?

Is he alive? By what definition? Does the Bible answer that for us?

2: Is it appropriate to make these choices as a Christian?
Why? Why not?

You have to decide, one way or another. Either way has huge consequences. I hate being in that situation.

5: as a Christian is there anything wrong with advanced directives?
Why? Why not?

I think it's more loving to discuss these things ahead of time and let your loved ones know clearly what you would want. Then it's not entirely on them. I wouldn't want to load them down with guilt.

[Josh]

To give a gruesome example, over in the Pilgrim / Hope world, several babies were born without a functional brain. They can be kept alive on a vent and IV and special feeding system (peri-something?) but it costs a lot, somewhere around $100k a month to keep them alive with the round the clock medical care.

At one pint that church’s aid plan was spending half of its outlays on a few babies in this condition.

I spoke with a deacon and he asked me my opinion. I thought it’s time to pull the plug. He said he agreed, but asked how I would go explain this to a young couple.

The parents involved carried a rare mutation and were closely related enough that they passed on the disease. One couple had 2 babies with the same problem when they were born. They wanted to try again for a 3rd.

I have no idea what is right or wrong in this case. I guess I’m glad to leave it up to wise church leaders who are godly men. My own baby and all of my foster / adoptive babies were healthy as horses. I’ve never had to face anything like this personally.

[Chris]

Please respond to scenario and questions. Background doesn’t matter.
A scenario that is on our mind lately, thankfully we are not involved.

person has a heart attack 20 minutes of cpr with total support required feeding/vent with no detectable brain activity.
Disconnect them from active support and they continue breathing.
1: Is the action of not providing food via tube to this person assisted suicide?
Why? why not?

2: Is it appropriate to make these choices as a Christian?
Why? Why not?

3: if answer to 1 is yes it is assisted suicide, how long does one provide respiratory and dietary support to apparent brain dead individual?

4: if answer to 1 is no it is not assisted suicide, how long is an appropriate length of time to assess before pulling the “plug”?

5: as a Christian is there anything wrong with advanced directives?
Why? Why not?

6: if you believe advanced directives are wrong for the Christian, do you take any effort to prevent the implementation of advanced directives on loved ones or do you allow it?

Do your answers change depending on if they are believers?

What if you refuse hospitals on principle? Then you could avoid many of these questions. They'd die in the time of Christ. Chemo/radiation kill plenty of people, as does staff infections from small procedures. Suicide by pharma? Suicide by surgery? Medical questions are hard to answer.

[Ken]

Please respond to scenario and questions. Background doesn’t matter.
A scenario that is on our mind lately, thankfully we are not involved.

person has a heart attack 20 minutes of cpr with total support required feeding/vent with no detectable brain activity.
Disconnect them from active support and they continue breathing.
1: Is the action of not providing food via tube to this person assisted suicide?
Why? why not?

2: Is it appropriate to make these choices as a Christian?
Why? Why not?

3: if answer to 1 is yes it is assisted suicide, how long does one provide respiratory and dietary support to apparent brain dead individual?

4: if answer to 1 is no it is not assisted suicide, how long is an appropriate length of time to assess before pulling the “plug”?

5: as a Christian is there anything wrong with advanced directives?
Why? Why not?

6: if you believe advanced directives are wrong for the Christian, do you take any effort to prevent the implementation of advanced directives on loved ones or do you allow it?

Do your answers change depending on if they are believers?

What if you refuse hospitals on principle? Then you could avoid many of these questions. They'd die in the time of Christ. Chemo/radiation kill plenty of people, as does staff infections from small procedures. Suicide by pharma? Suicide by surgery? Medical questions are hard to answer.

Do you avoid all other modern developments that didn't exist in Biblical times? Such as electricity, cars, the internet, books and anything printed on printing presses? Anything made in a factory?

Or is it just hospitals that you avoid on principle?

[nett]

Please respond to scenario and questions. Background doesn’t matter.
A scenario that is on our mind lately, thankfully we are not involved.

person has a heart attack 20 minutes of cpr with total support required feeding/vent with no detectable brain activity.
Disconnect them from active support and they continue breathing.
1: Is the action of not providing food via tube to this person assisted suicide?
Why? why not?

2: Is it appropriate to make these choices as a Christian?
Why? Why not?

3: if answer to 1 is yes it is assisted suicide, how long does one provide respiratory and dietary support to apparent brain dead individual?

4: if answer to 1 is no it is not assisted suicide, how long is an appropriate length of time to assess before pulling the “plug”?

5: as a Christian is there anything wrong with advanced directives?
Why? Why not?

6: if you believe advanced directives are wrong for the Christian, do you take any effort to prevent the implementation of advanced directives on loved ones or do you allow it?

Do your answers change depending on if they are believers?

What if you refuse hospitals on principle? Then you could avoid many of these questions. They'd die in the time of Christ. Chemo/radiation kill plenty of people, as does staff infections from small procedures. Suicide by pharma? Suicide by surgery? Medical questions are hard to answer.

This is probably what it's going to come to for Christians.

[nett]

Do you avoid all other modern developments that didn't exist in Biblical times? Such as electricity, cars, the internet, books and anything printed on printing presses? Anything made in a factory?

Sure we should. Why not?

[Ken]

Do you avoid all other modern developments that didn't exist in Biblical times? Such as electricity, cars, the internet, books and anything printed on printing presses? Anything made in a factory?

Sure we should. Why not?

Yet here you are.

[nett]

Do you avoid all other modern developments that didn't exist in Biblical times? Such as electricity, cars, the internet, books and anything printed on printing presses? Anything made in a factory?

Sure we should. Why not?

Yet here you are.

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