Face it, there is almost no way to stop a person from committing suicide - if the person is really committed! What gives us the right to tell a person, what to do with their live? (I'm talking about a sane and mature person here) If we had suicide facilities, paired with counseling, I doubt that suicide rates would go up.
Supporting Evidence:
Suicide Booth
(en.wikipedia.org)
536 days ago
This is a weak arguement because your are supposing that the person is wanting to be committed to killing himself. There are other ways than legalizing suicide to help a person recover to a healthy life. As problem solvers for suicidal people we should be looking at equipping counselors with job forms and relocation plans for people who can not think of continuing their lives since most suicidal people just need a new chance.
It's a bogus argument people! I've never heard of someone who committed suicide being ticketed or taken to jail. It's only illegal if you fail.
Even then, it's not illegal. The fact that suicide is illegal is a myth.
There is really no way to punish the person who committed suicide. Moreover, any attempt will actually punish the family of the deceased more than the person, such as taking away property, money, and the funeral.
Bradf0rd brought up a good point. Most people like to act righteous and want to stop people from killing them self, but they don't want to actually HELP the person. They will just do enough to stop the person from killing them self, to claim they save life or perhaps to feel moral, but do nothing to actually improve that suicidal person's life. You continue their hell. People often want to make things they find distasteful illegal. They want to government to do their dirty work. If you care about the problem, fix it yourself. Don't have the government do it with other peoples' money. Those who believe suicide should be illegal, I want you find someone who wishes to commit suicide, and stop them. Physically stop them from killing them self. Don't help them, don't try to convince them to live, just stop them from killing them self and keep them alive. Nothing more. I wonder, would they thank you? The same thing will happen if you have government handle this. The government is cold and impersonal. It does not care about the suicidal people, it cares about the taxpayer dollars. The government would be ineffective. We don't need government to solve this problem, we need caring people to solve this problem.
Well put. You have strong arguements and clear logic
There is no problem for people to kill themselves.We don't have the right to control other peoples' lives.If they want to die, let them die.Why make it illegal?
357 days ago | Tagged As: yes
Suicide IS legal. Euthanasia, assisted suicide, is a crime. Why should the government be allowed to punish a person helping me end my life at the time I choose in a method I choose?
The problem with allowing euthanasia is opening up a valid defense to people who commit murder or, for example, kill an old senile relative (without their permission) to attain inheritence. It's dodgy ground, and I can understand why, in general, it remains illegal. If however it could be correctly implemented (witnesses, the final act carried out by a doctor, etc) than it should be legal for those who request it and are found to be in a fit mental state to make the decision.
I think it is an issue that should be regulated. I'm in no way suggesting that I think that suicide or euthanasia are light and solely personal issues. There should be terms and conditions such as it has to be done by a board certified physician, a psychiatric evaluation should be required for those without a terminal disease, and there should be at least one witness present.
I totally agree, euthanasia should be legal and regulated for precisely the reason that xaeon outlined. So long as the dodgy ground can be mitigated, I cannot see another reason why society should impose additional pain and misery upon a rational human being whom is experiencing it.
Better yet, euthanasia should be selectively controlled by the state!
I think that the major problem comes when trying to define those who "are found to be in a fit mental state to make the decision."
Agreed, which is why it will always be very touchy ground.
Simple. I am fit to judge my own mental state. You are fit to judge yours. If you think I'm crazy, avoid me. If I think I'm crazy, I can ask for a psychiatrist to make a judgment for me. Other than that, I am sick of everyone thinking they know what is best for me, or anyone else. It's really disgusting.
But there are many people with mental illness who are "crazy" (the term you used, not me...) and do not go to a psychiatrist for help. Maybe if they did ask for help they would not use suicide as an option.
Here here! As usual it's the exploitative edge cases that ruin it for everyone. Legalise assisted suicide and before you know it, the aged and infirm will be lining up to die on TV to assure a large inheritance for their relatives.
Um... Suicide is not legal. You just can't be punished for committing it. Suicide is the only crime that is only punishable if attempted.
There are absolutly no laws (at least to my knowledge in the UK, the majority of Europe and the majority of the US) prehibiting suicide.
Can you name another crime for me?
I just did a little research for a paper I'm writing on this topic. This applies mainly to the United States, although it seems to be very similar in other countries. There are no FEDERAL laws banning or prohibiting suicide and never have been. There HAVE been State laws banning suicide, although state courts have always been reluctant to try to enforce these laws (for obvious, somewhat humorous reasons). Some states have listed suicide as a felony or crime without any listed punishments. Over the last 10 to 20 years, all states have either removed their ban on suicide or have had said ban declared unconstitutional or otherwise illegal by the supreme court. However, if a medical professional or otherwise qualified person either deems you to be a danger to yourself or others or even simply fears that you MAY be, they CAN legally confine you against your will. (5150, Involuntary Psychiatric Hold) So if you do try to commit suicide and fail, most likely you are going to be found to be a danger to yourself (real shocker right there), and confined under code 5150. Therefore making attempted suicide (aka failed suicide) 'punishable' by law. Suicide CANNOT be punished by property forfeiture or ignominious burial. However, suicide is still considered a 'common law crime,' (i.e. most of society doesn't like it :P) as such, many insurance policies have clauses pertaining to suicide, usually resulting in forfeiture of the coverage. (your family wont get paid if you off yourself.) There are options to have suicide covered, in most cases, usually raising your premium.
361 days ago | Tagged As: yes
Suicide is not a crime, either. Nor is attempted suicide. No one goes to jail, is fined, ticketed, or given community service for attempting to kill him/her self.
I did a small bit of research, and attempted suicide is illegal in a few states. If you fail and the cops are involved, they put you in a psych ward for 72 hrs for observation. It's not jail, but you're freedom is taken away for a time.
I agree... most attempted suicides are OD's, but then you have to figure in that they were unhappy... with drugs. Some just OD, and though they were unhappy, they weren't aware that they were so close to dying. Law is too blind to justly say that someone was attempting to kill themselves willingly, and if they do, it's more likely that it's a mental problem that caused them to try... because they failed. A sane person in a bad situation will succeed. Look at the number of males that attempt and succeed, to the number of females that attempt and fail... big big difference.
I think suicide being illegal is an exercise in futility. If a person is truly committed to suicide there is no way you can stop them short of straight jackets and gags. This life is mine. I will control what my body consumes and the way I treat it. If I choose that it is time to leave this world it will be my right and choice to do so. Opinions and laws do not extend to the point where you can dictate and regulate what others choose to do with their existence or body . As caring human beings we don't want others to feel their life is in need of ending, and we absolutely should try our best to show others their perceived worth and value to us, but we should not try to forcefully extend our own fears of death onto others. I'll completely agree that people shouldn't commit suicide and I would definitely try to stop a friend from attempting it, but I think the spirit of the law is to protect you from others, not yourself. I know this can be contradicted by the current wave of forced psychiatric evaluation and by those who think in the current thought crime mentality, but I really believe that the area of suicide, due to it's moral ambiguity, is something best kept away from laws that would punish you for failing to do it right the first time.
It's funny, that if you think life is bad and attempt to kill yourself, we do nothing more to help than keep you alive in a way that you hate even more than the way you were while attempting... I think assisted suicide would be great... but at the same time, how do you know that the person you're about to help by killing them wouldn't win the lotto the next day and be able to afford a better life via medication and a lifestyle change... I don't know, life is pretty fucked up.
Mental illness is subjective to whomever is evaluating someone's mental illness. Homosexuality used to be considered a mental illness. Women being unhappy as housewives was considered a mental illness. Times change, and so does medicine. Psychiatric medicine is not an absolute, and never has been. Every one is unique. If someone want to end their life, it's their choice. It's their right. I'm not saying that I agree with suicide. I have been very depressed before, and I have had really bad experiences that I thought were never going to go away, but I can never see myself killing myself. I think that it's wrong, it's a weak thing to do, and it hurts those who love you. But, it's not my place, or the law's place to force someone to live. This is a free country, a free society. People have the right to harm themselves, to mess up their lives, and to be terrible to other people (granted that they aren't harming them physically or in other illegal ways.) So why should people also be barred from killing themselves? I think that there should always be help available, but just like with drug rehab, and debt counseling, and friends and family, people have the right to refuse help. I don't agree with it, I would never do it, and I would try to prevent friends or family from doing it, but as for a law prohibiting it, I am not supportive. People have the right to life and liberty, which also means that they have the right to do with those things what they choose.
It's a ridiculous question really. If you're dead, what does it matter? Are they going to throw your corpse into a prison cell? Is someone going to press charges? Will your cadaver have to get a lawyer?
But it's not all about you. Those whom you leave would not want you branded a criminal, be implicated, lose out on benefits, inheritance etc.
Well what would you care? Still, if you're going to kill yourself, does it matter who your shit goes to??? No, it's a personal problem. You cannot tell someone that they legally cannot kill themselves because of their inheritance, what difference would that do other than show the person that is going to kill themselves that you care more about their possessions than their life... and you cannot tell them that they legally can't kill themselves for any other reason, you know?
There is not question Suicide should be legal. All that needs to be conceded is that everyone owns them self. By that I mean that I own myself, no one has a higher claim to me, mind and body, but me. I am not anyone's property. If we can agree that we all own ourselves absolutely then there is no question about suicides legality. To claim that you, or anyone, has the right to tell me I cannot commit suicide is the same as saying you OWN ME. You assume to have a higher claim to my own body and mind than I do, that you have the right to judge my state and worth and decide what is to be done with me. Myself, I would call that slavery. You do not own me, I do. There is nothing wrong with assisted suicide either. Why would it be OK for me to kill myself, possibly painfully due to a sloppy death, but then if I were to go to a medical facility where I could have a painless death suddenly becomes immoral? The logic does not follow. Some people say that assisted suicide could lead to murder convicts getting off the hook, but this is not an argument against assisted suicide. It is an argument from effect that has no bearing on the actual morality of committing suicide. I should not be restricted from killing myself, or letting someone kill me, because some malicious person might kill others. You are letting a bad person's bad actions control me, an uninvolved person. With laws preventing assisted suicide you would empowering the murderers to cause even more pain and suffering.
You are assuming by saying you are your own that their is no other beings or higher powers in this world or in the solar system. Basically, this earth is all that there is to life and once you die you go in the ground and become dirt. That is a very big stretch to make considering their are millions of supernatural things that happen in a regular year. For example, miraculous healing. I have seen plenty of people healed from prayers. So to say that you are your own and you were not created, takes as much faith as for me to say you were created, only their is more people who believe that they evolved and were not created.
Assuming? Perhaps, I also assume there is no Zeus or Athena. Why? There is not proof. When I say proof I mean verifiable and scientific, not "some guy I know saw XYZ". Millions of supernatural things? No... Just many things we don't YET understand, that doesn't mean they are beyond comprehension. Not so long ago we didn't completely understand the physics of how bees flew. Yes we understood they had wings and all, but not the complexities of it. Theologians said "it is god that makes them fly!" and yet with more advanced science we have discovered that it is NOT god that makes bees fly, and that bees flight is well within the realm of natural law. You may laugh at someone saying bees fly by the will of god, but it is the same principle whenever anyone says something is done by god. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -Arthur C. Clarke If there is an omnipotent being that owns my life, then it should be able to stop me killing myself. If it can, and chooses not to, then why does it matter? If it wants to, and cannot, then is it really omnipotent? PS:I meant to press oppose, woops.
Yeah, survival of the fittest. If you wanna die, yer not fit to be anything but a darwin award winner. Go ahead and take yerself out of my gene pool
Yes, I just can't commit to it right now. Two many responsibilities.
Suicide is not illegal, and it probably will never be, by the nature of the law system (apparently you cant arrest the dead, who knew?). However, assisted suicide should only be legal under extreme circumstances, (Terminal illness, or Chronic pain that is not expected to end, etc.) Only when there is no alternative.
The law enforcement community for the most part view someone attempting suicide as unstable. They believe that no person would commit suicide that was of sound mind. Its insane to believe that an individual is not intelligent enough to decide that they are ready to die, or to help them do it in the most effiecient and painless manner possible.
How can you sentence somebody to jail if that person has just jumped off a 12 story building?
289 days ago | Tagged As: yes
if u want to die go ahead know one can stop u it's not about religion it's actually pretty simple if u hate your life so bad why live. The govt just wants us alive just to pay taxes. So do as you wish.
233 days ago | Tagged As: yes
Sucide should be legal cause they have no way of helpign the people. This stuff about medication is barbaric. Usally its a bunch of j--- that want to do it cause thats all they know THey dont help people all they do is interfere. If you dont like suicide then go talk about it with your dr. However I have heard the reason we dont like suicde is we dont wnat to goto the funeral. WHy should you have someone living in pain and torure cuase you dont want to goto a funeral. Preventing sucide and force commitment is no better then what Stalin did
33 days ago | Tagged As: yes
Yes, we need some form of population control.
While what you say is sick, it is true...
Yes. It's their life. They can do with it what they see fit.
What? You agree with me? Is hell freezing over?
Yes, suicide should be illegal and we should bury the perpetrators in jail.
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Well first of all i don't reckon any laws that make suicide illegal. I haven't heard of any person that was sent to jail after commiting suicide. And if we're talking about suicide facilities, euthanasia and stuff - that's not a suicide - that's a homicide. A murder. Suicide - when someone kills himself. That's sad, but well it happens. And when someone 'helps' another person to commit suicide - he or she kills that person. What is more this murder is intended. And that should not ever be legal.
What makes it immoral for a person to aid someone who want to die in killing themselves? A lot of people who want to die are in such physical pain that they cannot kill themselves. Do you really think you are doing the moral thing by forcing them to continue to endure the suffering? You would do well to remember that avoiding death is not the same as achieving life. Some people have lived happy and fulfilling lives and do not want to end a good life in pain.
You know what. Some time ago i fell off a cliff. I got three ribs an arm a leg and my spine broken. It was painful. Oh no it was not painful it hurt like hell. And all my lower half was paralyzed. You know while i was in the hospital - i was desperate. I was in constant pain, the doctors said that they can not guarantee that i will ever walk again. I spent almost a year in hospitals and reabilitation centers, i was slowly regaining my ability to walk. Step by step. And it hurts even more when you are trying to get your legs to work again. I thought about suicide hundreds of times. Because i was inadequate. Pain is worse than any drug i ever tried. It rips your world inside out. If some doctor came to me and said - come on i make you an injection - and you die peacefully - i'd have said yes. And i would be long dead by now. But i had to fight for my life. I had to endure the pain. I had to learn how to walk again. And i am feeling good now. I can walk again. I can even run. Hell i am cliffhanging again. Well the bones ache sometimes when the weather changes - but that's nothing compared to the pain that was before. It's the same situation with drugs as with suicide. The person wants to do drugs - he has to find some dealer, he is afraid of police, he has to drive to some bad block and stuff. - He decides ah to hell with drugs, i'll go get some booze and a chick. And if a person has a possibility of entering a shop and buying drugs legally - he'll gladly do them. The same with suicide. It is scary as hell to kill yourself. That last step out of the window is really hard to make. All your instincts cry 'stop don't do it'. And there's a huge gap between a thought "i dont want to live, i'm in pain, i'm desperate" and killing yourself. But if you have an opportunity to ask someone to make an injection - that will be a lot easier to do.
You are trying to paint a picture where doctors will be trolling hospitals offering death pills to patients that are in pain. It's a ludicrous claim. Why? Two reasons. First, doctors take the Hippocratic Oath to preserve life, meaning they CAN'T offer to kill you. Reason two. Killing customers is bad for business. As harsh as it may sound, keeping a paying patient alive is more profitable than giving someone one injection or pill for a few hundred dollars at most. People can have feeding tubes, breathing machines, and mechanical hearts turned off if they wish, leading to their inevitable death. Do you think that should be illegal? It is pretty much the same thing. So were it legal, people would have to request assisted suicide and the doctors would do everything they could to convince people not to kill them self. For someone to commit suicide he would need true determination. I am not saying that I like the idea of people committing suicide, I am just saying it is not my place to decide what people do with their life.
You make a real good point by stating the most common form of suicide would be lethal injection if it was legal. The law may not be saving those suicidal people who jump off bridges and preform other methods but it is saving people like yourself who have to go through extreme pain to get back on track.
Suicide should be illegal because by definition suicide is an act of mental illness. A person who wants to commit suicide is always under pressure that negates their ability to make reasoned informed choices. This argument precludes DNR's as they have been created before a debilitating illness has eroded a persons ability to make choices.
Perhaps "the definition of suicide" needs another look at like the way the psyche professionals redefined homosexuality in the 70s. If you're suffering from some incurable and mostly untreatable illness, you should have the choice to go peaceably into the night.
An act of mental illness? Think about that for a second... FTA "Mental disorder or mental illness are terms used to refer to a psychological or physiological pattern..." Read pattern
I cannot agree with this at all. Seriously, although suicide may be caused by a mental disability, you can't justify in saying that it is illegal. Many people live with mental disabilities. It is not illegal to suffer from them. I will say that suicide is not how a person should end their life, but i will say that it is their decision. You cannot force someone to follow your beliefs. It is their own choice how to lead their lives.
296 days ago | Tagged As: No
How can suicide be illegal? How are you going to stop suicide from happening? "A person who wants to commit suicide is always under pressure" They are in more pain then they can take. They might be under pressure but there desperate. They need something to make them feel better. To get out of the life. HOW DO YOU ILLEGALIZE SUICIDE?
86 days ago | Tagged As: yes
i have several friends that thought of killing there selves,some committed it but survive and some i heard just die...er... most of the survivor,said after days they had passed that dark obstacle of ther lives ,realizes how pretty life is,they realize they scared ther love ones,and gave them trauma,contrary to what they had though when they wer actually doing the 'suicide'...i ask what gave them the urge to do it... most are in a dark hole,deep frustrations heartbreaks any other madness,sadness kind of feeling. if suicide would be legal,its like the 'time of realizing and moving on' end up to 1 shot of cyanide,'the seeing of true beauty of life moment'could end in 1 gun shot on your throat... how ever medically assistd suicide(euthanasia) could be accepted somehow,depends on the family of the patients that want to end the suffering of ther love ones(isnt it a form of a murder)...like if the person is too old already and terminally ill or in comma for a long time...but i heard news that a patient had been comma for years suddenly had conscious the day her husband decided to release her life support... so just imagine how her husband guilt about what he had decided...
First of all, when something is illegal it means that you'll get punished if you do so, but i don't see how someone can be punished if he's alredy dead. Anyway, although this topic is not really a debatable one, i shall give it a more suitable definition. When we are talking about making suicide legal, it means that no action against the family of the dead will be taken, and there will be no investigation. So, as for the laws, suicide SHOULD be considered to be a crime, simply because a lot of murders seem to be suicide at the beginning and if noone investigates the case then how can we know whether it was a crime or not? So, basically for this practical issue, we shouldn't "legalize" suicide, because we can't easily distinguish when a suicide is really a suicide.
350 days ago | Tagged As: No
Can they really stop you?
350 days ago | Tagged As: No
Nope, ending life forcefully isn't the right way. Being a human and not an animal is a rare thing indeed. Consider ourselves lucky :] Commit suicide is just stupid as you just waste your life..
260 days ago | Tagged As: No
Suicide should be illegal and it should be punishable by death ;)
33 days ago | Tagged As: No
Besides elderly people who are in real pain, I say no. Normally laws restrict liberty so you want as few laws as possible, however liberty is only appreciated through life, so it is in fact a liberty restoring act to save someones life. We also want to minimize suffering. Therefore, suicide (if legal) should be regulated at hospitals or other place where a medical and psychological evaluation can be done. Suicide at any other place would be prohibited.
So you're arguing for the other side. I agree insofar that we don't want people raining from buildings and that hefty counselling should proceed the desire in the relatively healthy. Suicide should be an option for the aged and otherwise severely suffering
Life is not ours to take.
My life is mine to do with as I wish. I am not taking it, but I can give it if I wish.
As long as your wish coincides with that of His Holiness, the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
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