do you support a universal right to suicide?

[© tweed]

the most fundamental 'freedom' is the freedom to choose whether or not to remain alive.  here is the area where the Judeo-Christian legacy runs deepest: your life does not belong to you, but to God.  


my proposal would be to open 'right to death' clinics, much like those exist for euthanasia.  however, there would be no need for a medical justification or diagnosis. perhaps mandate a 3-month waiting period, as a compromise; perhaps also require parental consent for under 18s.  but only as compromises.

people say: "you may get to a point where you don't feel that way anymore, that you're glad you didn't do it!"  ie, you owe it to your future self.  great hypocrisy, as future persons have no rights anywhere else in law.  but beyond even that -- in non-existence, there is no regret.  thus there is no tragedy.  yet there is an absence of suffering, which we can all agree is good.



please try to keep personal anecdotes out of this.  discussion about suicide is protected speech; advising individuals to commit suicide is not.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Yes, with some regulations.

[IceSpear]

Yes, but the process should be longer and more intensive than simply a 3 month waiting period.

[Goldwater]

Yes, suicide should be legal, although it should also be strongly discouraged.

[Deus Naturae]

Just legalize assisted suicide provided the suicidal individual signs a statement giving consent to be killed. People have a right to control their own bodies and extinguish their own consciousness, with or without the help of others. Leave the government out of it.

[Deus Naturae]

Also, I'm not an expert here but would a suicidal person really wait three months just to end it all in a public clinic? I suspect most people, upon resolving to commit suicide, would rather just plunge into the abyss themselves than wait it out.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Tweed, as a person you can do so much better

[DC Al Fine]

Even if you agree with a right to suicide, why does there need to be clinics for the non-terminally ill? Killing oneself isn't that hard.

[Blue3]

Legal, but extremely strongly discouraged.

[Redalgo]

Yes - I am most inclined to agree with Deus Naturae's position.

[© tweed]

Even if you agree with a right to suicide, why does there need to be clinics for the non-terminally ill? Killing oneself isn't that hard.

too often we see suicides committed in such a manner that involve/endanger other people.  train and mack truck jumping, leaping off of buildings and bridges, etc.  at the very least, poisons that are lethal within a few moments of intake could be made readily available, if you're opposed to the idea of clinics.

Tweed, as a person you can do so much better

thank you, but I don't think so, if I ever did.

[Vega]

If somebody, as an individual, makes the decision to terminate their life, and they are of sound mind, absolutely.

[Murica!]

If you mean physician assisted, yes.

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Legal, but extremely discouraged.

[TNF]

Sure.

[ElectionsGuy]

Yes, suicide should be legal, although it should also be strongly discouraged.

[Boris]

people say: "you may get to a point where you don't feel that way anymore, that you're glad you didn't do it!"  ie, you owe it to your future self.  great hypocrisy, as future persons have no rights anywhere else in law.  but beyond even that -- in non-existence, there is no regret.  thus there is no tragedy.  yet there is an absence of suffering, which we can all agree is good.

[Rockefeller GOP]

Yes, suicide should be legal, although it should also be strongly discouraged.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yes, suicide should be legal, although it should also be strongly discouraged.

[SNJ1985]

No, absolutely not.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Tweed, as a person you can do so much better

thank you, but I don't think so, if I ever did.

Have you thought about trying?

[Mister Mets]

I might be persuaded that there are some situations in which a right to suicide is morally acceptable, but that does not come close to support for a universal right.

[© tweed]

Tweed, as a person you can do so much better

thank you, but I don't think so, if I ever did.

Have you thought about trying?

sure, I've tried many times, run like a rabbit for 5, 6 days at a time, but the energy fades out.  the anesthetics and empty room come to look so appealing... I've run the race, rose to occasions.  what I'm missing out on bothers me, but not nearly as much as it once did -- as a good therapist once predicted, the aloneness would not be so scathing once the other options had been tried. 

were they tried in Good Faith?  not beyond a reasonable doubt, but by preponderance of the evidence?  that's for God to decide, 'til then or 'til the winds change, it'll remain my curtain.

[Boston Bread]

It should be illegal, but those caught attempting it would get rehabilitation rather than punishment.

[Deus Naturae]

It should be illegal, but those caught attempting it would get rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Why? Do people not own their bodies?