quote:

Originally posted by WittyHandle I've been having this discussion with friends lately. I honestly don't see why someone who wants to die doesn't just buy a gun and do it themselves. No legal implications, guaranteed to work. Of course the only exception is people whose sickness has weakened them to the point where they cannot buy and/or operate a firearm, but aside from that, what is wrong with this approach?

Probably because guns are messy, and some people would rather not leave others the job of cleaning up their brains, blood, and skull fragments. Also, guns are not guaranteed to work. Someone can flinch at the last second and end up a drooling "vegetable" rather than a corpse.

No suicide method is a guarantee, really.

I wholeheartedly support it.

quote:

Originally posted by Theresa Do you think it should be available or not? Why? (Not for school... just wondering).

If you can't kill yourself then you have serious issues.

I think that people should have the option to legally kill themselves.

Eg. register with the courts and the death registry - but the simple fact is.. it will show how fucked up society is, if you give people an easy out they will take it.

It is a service to insure that people don't fuck up and make things worse for themselves.

The problem exists in the mindset that it is healthy for someone to kill themselves. Normally self harm is seen as a mental health issue.


Also if you make available "legal murder" then how do you insure it isn't abused to take advantage of someone, or it is used as a cover for real murder.

All in all people can easily kill themselves, it isn't a difficult task.

The problem exists in "room for error" very few deaths are absolutely assured. There is an opportunity in survival in many methods of killing oneself.

While I am not against self desturction, I think that it is not possible to punish someone for their own death - on the other hand.

I frankly don't understand the type of situation where someone is able to be conscious and not devise a method to kill themselves.


So yes and no.

You won't see this be socially accepted because christianity considers suicide a mortal sin, also it is technically illegal in places such as Canada.

People should have the right to die. I don't think people should be forced to live a life where they arn't allowed to live to the standard they expect or a quality of life they expect. It is a failing of reality, people shouldn't be forced to live a crappy life, or one where they are tortured by the state of their living experience.

I'd say most of these people who are against suicide havn't had to live a life that is painful and unfullfilling day in and day out. There are real environmental reasons for depression, drugs just mask the conditions of life that arn't supportive of a healthy life. Sadly the world we live in isn't providing, and actually attacks some individuals. Society itself furthers this fact and creates social divides which deprive people of access to land goods, or even food.
Some people live squalour lives just to survive in a painful day to day dredgery - at the same time, some people would die on their own, they have no means of even moving in some conditions, or have suffered otherwise fatal injuries but have been kept alive, others are terminally ill that pose a burden on their families financial well being dragging them down. There are both logical and emotional reasons for support of suicide or assisted suicide.

All in all though it is a problematic issue. And an issue for me that is right up there with the issue of abortion.


As a personal choice I don't support self suicide or in the imposible circumstance abortion of my child. However I do believe in freedom of choice.

I have asked to be killed before - while being in what I considered depriving of my freedom and enjoyment in life - that is life liberty and pursuit of happiness when I was drugged by the government contrary to my wishes. I can understand how people deprived of their basic freedoms by society might opt to die rather than live in a society that deprives them of humane existence.

The same applies for imprisonment when I have opted to fast to the point of death if necesary - and resist by force if there is an attempted intercession. The fact is I value my freedoms and reject a society that tries to unjustly deprive me of my rights and wellbeing, as it is contrary to a soceity I would seek to live in, as inhumane treatment should not be supported, yet open war against the state is a mental problem due to the concept of destruction of an ignorant society. Personally I think it is more about let the situation do the right thing. But no, we as humans should not support a society that forces people to live inhumanely.

Last edited by w_ashley on Mar-21-2010 at 02:47

quote:

Originally posted by Moongoose When you have dogma telling you that every life is sacred and that suffering is good since the more of it you do in this world the better of you will be in the next and you have a large proportion of the population that still buys into that nonsense its kind of hard to bring reason into the discussion without suffering serious backlash. Point out that its considered merciful to end the suffering of an animal but somehow completely wrong to offer the same mercy to another human when he is in a similar predicament and people will barrage you with examples of how the two for some inane reason cannot be compared.

another rare instance of us seeing eye to eye

quote:

Originally posted by ********

Not going to lie.. didn't read all of that.

I did read the beginning and it looks like you think I am referring to assisted suicide. This isn't really what I meant to be honest. I was talking about people who are terminally ill and are suffering.

However, I do think that people who seriously want to commit suicide should be given the option. They would have to seek it out, which means A. they could be screened and offered assistance/help/therapy etc. and B. be able to do it in a less traumatic way - peacefully. In fact, it would probably be a great idea, seeing as one of the reasons so many people suffer from depression is because they don't get the help they need. If they sought out a way to end it, it would double as a way of getting help first.

I also think that those who are sentenced to life in jail should be given the option.

Hell, if you want to die, you shouldn't be prevented from doing it in my opinion. Fuck all the "life is sacred" bullshit. Some people just don't want to deal with it when they are suffering.

(P.S. This isn't some veiled way of my saying that I don't want to live... I am quite happy living, but think other people should have a reasonable choice).

quote:

Originally posted by Theresa Some people just don't want to deal with it when they are suffering.

Agreed. Sometimes enough is enough.

Absolutely, euthanasia should be allowed... strictly controlled and entirely voluntary; however, it should be allowed.

yes, I know that Benny_16 isn't gonna be happy to read that.

___________________

quote:

Originally posted by RickyM you're just a shit version of Moral Hazard. At least he knows what he's talking about.

quote:

Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN lol, i love it when moral feels the need to lay the smack down

So... this came up again today. It's funny how fired up I get about this subject.

My mom's husband has terminal cancer. They suspect he will die very soon, but they said it could drag out for as long as 3 months. He is barely responsive, is peeing blood, and is in an overall miserable state. They are going to drop him off at a rehabilitation center and let him rot until he dies.

It defies all logic (to me), to let someone literally suffer in agony when there is no chance in hell for them to recover. It just pisses me off that we let this happen to people.

Seriously, if I am on my death bed, someone help me OD on something. I know there are a few of you who would be happy to help

Speaking of which, if you were in a situation where someone you were really close to was dying, a long, drawn-out and horrible death, would you help them to OD if they asked you to?

Yes, I would probably be devasted by it but still yes. And i would want the same courtesy extended to me as well if i were in that situation. Its reasonable, merciful and humane. Letting someone rot away saying that its better to be alive even under such circumstances...i cant even form the thoughts to properly word out how wrong and inhumane i think that is.

___________________

quote:

Originally posted by Theresa My mom's husband has terminal cancer. They are going to drop him off at a rehabilitation center and let him rot until he dies.

Rehab? This defies logic
If it is terminal then why is he not going to a palliative care hospice/bed?

As soon as someone is for palliation it doesn't take long to pass away.

quote:

Originally posted by Theresa For those of you who think that it should be available, what do you think it the main reason that it isn't? I would imagine it comes down to legalities, fear of being sued etc., etc. I would think that there has to be some way to avoid these complications (have the dying person sign a waiver?) What baffles me is that it is considered "cruelty" to leave a dying animal to suffer, and so we "put them down", but leaving a human to die a slow terrible death is ok? This seems so incredibly illogical to me. If a person is going to die and we know this without a shadow of doubt, I don't understand why we would stand idly by and watch them go through a prolonged, agonizing death when it isn't necessary. We should be able to put them out of their misery, give them a peaceful death and allow them to retain some dignity. "Letting" them die, in my opinion, is harder for everyone involved. The person dying, the family who has to witness the horrible death and constantly anticipating the inevitable... it just doesn't make sense to me that we don't routinely offer this! Personally, if I was on the brink of death, I would deliberately OD on pain killers or something.

It should be available. It's not available most likely because it's politically unfeasible. In America, Republicans sure wouldn't support it because they're mostly religious idiots. Some Democrats would support it, others maybe, and still others no. It just wouldn't pass our legislature.

quote:

Originally posted by Comrade Stalin It just wouldn't pass our legislature.

quote:

Originally posted by Silky Johnson It's already legal in (I think) 4 states in the US. edit: I checked, it's 3 states.