When I am clearly near death I would prefer pain relief and hospice-style care at home rather than extreme intervention. And yet, as a wheelchair user (on and off) for the last 20 years and a person in constant pain, I've had people tell me to my face they'd rather be dead than be "disabled". I would like to at least mention the importance of listening to people with disabilities on this issue. Because of societal prejudice against people with disabilities, often people's judgement is that we would be better off dead than suffering or impaired. When a disabled person is depressed or suicidal, they are encouraged to die by fans of the likes of Peter Singer or Kevorkian, rather than treated for depression, and helped to have the medical and personal care, and societal infrastructure, that might improve their enjoyment of life.

So, please keep this in mind and perhaps read up on the complexity of the issues -- from the perspectives of disability rights activists as well as doctors or the caretakers of people who are extremely ill. Our slogan is "nothing about us without us" and yet unfortunately, this article is only from the perspectives of caretakers.