I am sure that it is some ethical thingy. I have always heard it spoken of in religious circles as "self murder".

A few years ago I took care of my father who had been a farmer, logger, pulpwood contractor and various other jobs befitting to the rural locale. He got up before the sun rose until he was 83 years old. And was hardly ever in bed prior to 1000pm.

Worked very hard to feed his family all his life. He was still able to drive his tractor well into 82 even though we had to help him get onto the tractor. He still loved to take rolls of hay over into the pasture to feed his cows that he also saw after up till 83.

Alzhiemer manifested at 83 in his short term memory. And a hip replacement started going bad on him. His hip problem was so bad until he could not step down 6" from the door stoop to the ground without excruciating pain. He was basically confined to the house until we took him out for drives or to sit out in the yard or to a doctors appointment.

We got him one of those scooters and he was all over the highway with it so we had to take if from him.

I saw the saddest man in the world just deteriorating before my eyes. A once strong and virile man was reduced almost to a shell of himself. He asked many times for me to give him his pistol. I could not do it. I did understand why he would think such thoughts. At the end the nurse had given me morphine to help him with the pain of his hip. I was tempted to dose him up but never gave him more than the dose allotted.

It was really tough seeing him go through what he did.

I would not wish it on my enemy.