Do you support euthanasia?

[FatAndFaithless]

I can understand the aversion, but if a person with a mental illness is at that point of considering suicide as a seriously viable and attractive option, do you really think they'd go to a hospital and undergo a screening/evaluation specifically designed to determine if they're mentally ill (and therefore block them from euthanasia alltogether in my opinion at least)?

But I'm mentally ill. I have Bipolar Disorder w/Psychotic Features, borderline Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. If I were to become terminally ill and end up suffering day and night, should I be denied the right to euthanasia simply because I'm mentally ill?

No, I was (I thought pretty obviously) talking about folks that are not terminally ill, but are suffering from mental illness severe enough that suicide seems attractive only beacuse of their current mental state. I think a part of consenting to euthanasia is being as close to "of sound mind" as we can get, even if the term is nebulous.

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Mental illness is a very broad term. Being depressed for example is a common mental illness, and it's not always something that goes away. So for me, it's about assessing whether someone is both mentally capable of making decisions, and also in the best state of mind you can reasonably expect them to be. It seems unfair to deny it to a lucid person because they are depressed, especially as it's going to be a common cause.

And the person would have to go and seek out this process, jump through some hoops, see lots of people. It's not like I'm suggesting people turn up at your house with an axe and ask if you've got anyone who wants out. At any point in the process you could change your mind, just as you could if you were driving to a cliff to throw yourself off. In fact you're more likely to change your mind, because it will take longer, it won't be over in a day.

That's exactly what I mean.