Recent comments in /f/Connecticut

Warpedme t1_j4xhwo8 wrote

Reply to comment by IndicationOver in Lawmakers considering bill to allow aid in dying in Connecticut by IndicationOver

It's far less sad than watching a family member die slowly in unrelenting pain or lose their mind to Alzheimer's and hate every minute of it reliving that loss of mental capacity over and over and over again.

My mother had alzheimer's. Every time I saw her, multiple times she would beg for a gun with two bullets (in case one mother's misfires) because she had forgotten that she had begged me to help her commit suicide every single previous time. This went on for almost a decade before she lost her ability to speak and was basically just an angry, violent vegetable.

31

OldHagFashion t1_j4xgio8 wrote

Reply to Lawmakers considering bill to allow aid in dying in Connecticut by IndicationOver

I used to be for medically assisted suicide until I read the take of a disability rights activist: “there are so many who are happy to expend efforts in helping us die but not in enabling us to live.” In an ideal system, medical aid in dying is a very reasonable policy. But the US has never been an ideal system. And while I’m sure there are many who will swear up and down that it will only be used in those who have no chance of survival or who face a slow and painful death, the fact of the matter is that people who have been the victims of the American medical system at various points in history give plenty of reason to doubt that that is how things will happen in practice.

If you’ve never been the victim of willful malpractice and abuse by the medical system, it can be hard to fathom how people could be coerced to choose to die. but there are countless experiences of neglect and abuse that have been shared by those with disabilities, chronic illness, and mental illness as well as those who are minorities or are fat. many people with disabilities or mental illnesses already lack advocates in medical spaces and tend to have smaller support systems—this means a greater likelihood of being isolated if they are hospitalized. There are lots of ways nurses and doctors can impose casual cruelty on a patient to push them towards hopelessness—just one example being “missing” the vein a dozen times when placing an IV or constantly making comments about how alone, or worthless, or costly or wasteful a patient is, or placing their phone/computer/connection to the outside world out of their reach. It’s easy to say “oh that’s not so bad” but when you are a trapped audience dependent on someone else for survival in an already emotionally and mentally fragile state (which is inherent in being hospitalized) that behavior can have immense psychological consequences and lead someone to choose to die who otherwise might not have. While the vast majority of medical personnel would never fathom doing this purposefully, it takes very few people with deep prejudices and hatred to do immense harm. Further because of the norms of the medical field, it’s very possible for neglect to be imposed without the medical practitioner being aware that they are doing it. Not to mention the gatekeeping of healthcare due to insurance gouging and costs. Why are we accepting “people should be able to choose to die so they don’t saddle their relatives with debt” as an acceptable view point? Why are we not demanding that medical care be made more accessible so that no one has to choose between debt and death?

Until we give people real practical options for survival—until we make sure that the disabled can earn a reasonable stable living, and that people won’t risk homelessness and bankruptcy by choosing to get all the medical care they would need to survive—and until we address the rampant casual abuse that occurs within the medical field, medical aid in dying is just another tool for coercion, abuse, and cruelty of those who are already neglected by the medical field.

3

AhbabaOooMaoMao t1_j4x82op wrote

Reply to comment by Pinkumb in Lawmakers considering bill to allow aid in dying in Connecticut by IndicationOver

>People should be aware this is rapidly becoming a culture war issue. This is largely because 1) an associated press bombshell article about Canada's medical assistance in dying program (MAID) and 2) American conservatives reorienting their arguments about pro-life to focus on this issue.... > >The gist of the pro argument is it is only humane to allow people to choose when to die. We know the vast majority of a person's lifetime medical expenses will occur within 90 days of their death. We know medical debt is the main reason people declare bankruptcy.

>The gist of the anti argument is these policies innately corrupt medical institutions that are supposed to be stalwart advocates for your right to life.

Conservatives are turning this into a culture war because of the part that I have placed in bold.

The stated gist of the anti-argument is the alleged corruption of medical doctoring. That's a pretext. I'm sure that there are some religious types and literal adherents of the Hippocratic Oath that are serious, but in the halls of government, this is coming from the health care lobby and drug companies and their lapdog Republicans.

8

-----anja----- t1_j4x7ge6 wrote

Reply to Eversource bill question by Wise_Rate_7975

Hey OP, I think that's pretty high... I am in a 1BR apt with your same sqft, and my bills for the past three months have not been over $23 each month. It must be your heat.

I do live alone, have GAS heat, and am very aware of turning off lights/appliances, though. (I also don't have a dishwasher or laundry connected to my unit, so I'm sure that factors in.)

−4