this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2026
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
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- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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I mean they kinda are. It's called hospice and it's when they break open the good shit.
Unfortunately, a lot of people arent.
Due largely to religious bullshit (at least in america), its very very difficult to get death with dignity. My grandma has parkinsons, she wants to go on hospice before it takes her brain, but her doctor is Catholic and decided its against his religion to let her die as she wants to.
Shes trying to find a doctor who will let her, but its very very difficult. Its still considered murder in most of the country, and even most Hospice doctors wont do anything besides not resuscitate. We have to be careful to not call an ambulance for her, because if she goes to a hospital, the doctor is allowed to just ignore her DNR if thats against their religion.
IDK what kind of hospice you've been to but my grandmother was basically pumped full of morphine for nearly an entire year before she passed of "totally not a morphine overdose."
Are real actual medical doctors even allowed to do that based on religion?
Not just allowed, actively pushed to do so.
The doctor she goes to did it, just decided that it was against his religion for her to decide to go on hospice care.
Even if he would allow it, in order for her to get on hospice, her doctor would have to go in front of an ethics committee and argue for her to be allowed to go on hospice. If anyone on the ethics committee objects, she isn't allowed.
California has a right-to-die law (one of very few states that does). You are allowed to die if your doctor can prove that your disease will kill you in 6 months, that you are coherent (at the time of death, you cant sign anything beforehand for it), if you are capable of taking the suicide pills without assistance.
The doctor has to document that you made two separate distinct verbal requests, 48 hours apart. Has to document that your disease will kill you in 6 months, has to document that you are able to take the pills on your own with no assistance (too weak to die? too bad). The case is automatically reviewed (and they will try to take away the doctors license every time).
And anyone involved is allowed to stop you if they object on any grounds.
Killing yourself is a sin in most versions of Christianity, so its effectively illegal in most of the country, and any doctor that is willing to let you has to really really work to not get their license taken and them thrown in jail.
Hospice is not the same thing as assisted suicide though
True.
But Hospice is generally required to get to assisted suicide tho.
Or at least, it was when my dad finally got to die.
The normal doctor wouldn't do it, the hospital didnt allow it except for in hospice.
And then we had to fight for a week to get the hospice doctor to let him die.
I got severe pushback from a nurse for saying DNR when I was last in the hospital. It seems that healthcare workers often possess no ethics, standards, or intellect in the USA.
A bit more context may be needed, though. I've found that medical staff respect DNR wishes (they are legally obligated to do so) but will refuse certain aspects of care with it. E.g. certain types of surgery where your heart may technically stop, or if they have to intubate.
They should be proposing alternative methods of care in that instance, but won't go through with some things without a DNR (which is ultimately the point of a DNR, they must refuse to save you even if they could). Usually a DNR is for palliative care (you may also hear the term "comfort measures only" (CMO) used).
But I've never heard of an instance of a patient showing up to a hospital and then getting turned away for having a DNR on file, at least. They just won't perform anything too risky where resuscitation may be needed.
They don't. They base their decision on religion, but they justify it with big medical and sciencey words. But they'll tell you it's due to their faith (if they're so bold).
My grandmas doctor just straight up said that killing yourself is a sin and its against his religion to help her commit a sin when she asked to go on hospice.
Are you not thinking of euthanasia? Hospice is like a care home for people who are dying
The marketing department decided on "assisted suicide" because euthanasia is an icky word. Didn't you get the memo?
Just like how we have "abortions" instead of "fetus deletus"
They have distinct meanings. Euthanasia = someone else pushes the button. Assisted suicide = you push the button. Assisted suicide is legal in 12 states. Euthanasia is legal in 0.
that is how hospice works. they won't euthanasia they will just let you die and do theoretical pain management. My mom died of dehydration in hospice because it was "unethical" to just give her a shot of barbituates when half her brain was no longer functioning after a stroke.
That is how hospice works. they won’t euthanasia they will just let you die and do theoretical pain management.
Depends on the doctor. If you get a good one, they will give you a lot of painkillers that will shorten your life significantly.
Unfortunately, end of life care is very poorly regulated (to protect people).
Check your state law. In some states it is very illegal to ignore a properly filled out DNR, religion or no religion.
Also, hospice is not state assisted suicide. Hospice is comfort care, and it's not about causing someone to die, it's about helping someone who is terminal be more comfortable during the time they have left.
It is 100% legal to refuse medical care because of being Christian. This has been litigated to death.
Its illegal to punish somebody for refusing to provide medical care if they claim that doing so would be against their (christian) religion. This has also been litigated to death.
No, but Hospice does include not preventing death if the patient doesnt want to go on a bunch of stuff
And usually letting them die when they want to.
Its how my dad finally died, He got hospice and the doctor gave him a massive overdose of Morphine (after multiple days of asking the doctor to let him die).
So you grandma is catholic.
Let's be clear here.
And yes, killing someone is very problematic. I admit I don't have the answer.
Let's not act like this is that simple.
No, her doctor is, my grandma is Atheist
Its pretty fucking clear
I do, let people die when they want to.
It really is
I'm sure it's easier said than done, but can't she just go to a different doctor? People get second opinions all the time
Hypothetically sure. But she is on Medicaid. Getting a new primary care doctor takes a lot of effort.
All of her specialists are in the same network, and all the notes follow her around in her network. The doctor noted that she is "suicidal," and now nobody in the network will let her get on hospice.
So in order to find a new doctor, she would effectively need to find a new network, get all new specialists, restart all the tests, go back through Medicaid to get a new doctor on her insurance.
Its not actively impossible, but its very difficult, especially for an 85 year old with Parkinson's. And changing doctors while you have Parkinson's somewhat managed is a bad idea, its lots of experimenting to find a treatment plan that works, and you have to basically start all that over while you loose a lot of ground.
Its way easier for her to just tell everybody to remember to not call an ambulance for her, she already asked me to help her die when she feels like her mind is too far gone, but since it would be "murder" for me to be in the same room as her while she takes the wrong pills, there isnt a lot I can do.
Much less common than you think,
YSK hospice basically means they starve you to death but they keep you high so you don't care. They do not feed you, they sit you in a chair and hook you up to the drugs. Maybe that's a better way to go than going without the drugs, but that's pretty much what they do. Maybe some of them overdose you, I'm not really sure. It's state assisted suicide. And it's not quick. If it's what people want I'm not saying to take away their choice and I'm not saying it's an easy choice, but I wouldn't romanticise hospice. If nothing else, look into exactly what they do and don't do. It may vary from place to place. If you have something really bad like, say, cancer and chemo isn't helping, and the cancer will take you before the starvation... it can be the better option. I am not familiar with Parkinson's and I'm certainly not judging your family!
...that's not how hospice works. Hospice is just care to keep a patient comfortable through a condition they're not expected to survive. Food can be part of keeping a patient comfortable if they're able to eat. Some people aren't able to eat, and then you start getting into the hard questions like whether it's ethical to keep someone alive with a feeding tube and IV drip just so their brain can soak up more morphine, but the cutoff of life sustaining treatments depends a lot on the nature of the condition, what the patient stated when they were in a sound state of mind previously via a 'living will', or at the discretion of family.
But yeah, you can be on hospice for months - they absolutely feed you unless there's some reason not to. You can also come off of hospice if the underlying condition improves on its own and it starts to look like you'll actually recover - it's not a death sentence or assisted suicide or anything.
Treatment depends on condition, they don't just starve everyone to death
Hospice is comfort care. It's letting the person die naturally while doping them up on pain meds so they aren't as miserable. It's not state assisted suicide (that's something else), it's about not giving additional interventions to someone who is terminal anyway and helping them be as comfortable as possible with the time they have left. If the person is able to eat they can eat, and if they can't eat on their own that's an additional conversation between the patient and the family and their healthcare team. Normally they would not be tube fed, but sometimes people aren't comfortable with that and then that's additional conversations of what needs to be done. You don't just go on hospice and instantly get starved, people are on hospice for weeks to months, that physically couldn't happen if they are starving everyone.
And often just enough to let someone with a weak constitution drift off gently into that good night when they're ready.
It's one of those unstated aspects of it. It's not "assisted suicide," but they'll hook you up with a PCA pump of morphine alongside scheduled doses of potentially more powerful painkillers that will help you fall asleep and never wake up.
Unless you're in a "right to die" region and have jumped through all the hoops, they can't administer a lethal injection of a substance simply intended to kill. But they can administer enough pain medication to kill a horse. They'll give as much as needed to ensure comfort, which takes priority over organ failure and risk of death, since that is already a bygone conclusion.
Or the nurse/doctor will tell the family exactly how much morphine to "not" give their loved ones because it'll make them go to sleep forever