quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:

quote:

Originally posted by bobtheelf:
But what about the parent who leaves behind kids that can't take care of themselves? A husband and earner who leaves his wife with a load of debt and no income? A person who escapes their debts and leaves others carrying that burden? How do you square it with life insurance?

What about what?

Are you just talking generally about someone taking their own life? It doesn't sound related to medically assisted suicide.

Would it be ethical for anyone to assist in a suicide with those complications? Should it be legal to assist in a suicide if those complications exist?

Your point that it is inherently irrational is one of the many reasons that assisted suicide should not be permitted. A rational person should not be enabling irrationality.

Nothing is stopping someone from taking their own life if they wish, but for the state to decriminalize it lends it a legitimacy that it should not have in many cases.

Bob did you read through the whole thread, and the article?

Nobody in here wants regular old suicide to be made legal, and the conditions for which medically assisted suicide is offered are very specific.

I didn't say suicide was irrational. I said it wouldn't be rational without the ability to feel what the person was feeling, and no one can do that. We're all brains marinating in chemicals, driving a meat and bone robot. We don't realize the extent our chemistry and hormones effect our feelings and perception of the world.

The point is not to permit suicide, it is to destigmatize it so people don't hide their thoughts and feelings about it. America as a whole has a serious problem with how we approach mental illness socially, and treat it through our healthcare system.

People considering suicide, or suffering from mental illness that can lead to it, need openness and understanding. Not to be told that their feelings mean they are cowards etc.

Again, medically assisted suicide is a very specific thing, and you're not going to see "regular suicide" made legal, anywhere. For a variety of reasons, but chief among them would be the legal conundrum created were suicide legal, and anyone tried to prevent that suicide.

Medically assisted suicide is a serious topic, but suicide as a whole is absolutely serious, as it kills more people than gun violence. We can't stop everyone from killing themselves, but we can try to help as many people as possible.