FREE THOUGHT: SHOULD SUICIDE BE ILLEGAL?

Hey guys! Late night questions. This idea has been bothering me for a while. I’d love to hear some opinions.

Should suicide be illegal?

If we remove the option of killing oneself do you think the depression rates would lessen or increase?

Would we be causing more damage towards those who are suffering from mental illnesses and to those who are in a bad situation?

My opinion: I understand that this is a heavy infringement on a person, but I can’t help but feeling as though by making suicide illegal we would be buying people more time to heal and recover.

Thanks!

Ciao.

EDIT: I DON'T THINK IT BELONGS IN ETHICS, BUT ALAS DO WHAT YOU WILL MODS.

 

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It seems like a strange law to me. I assume it is legal to saw your own arm off, but it you bleed to death you have then broken the law??

The law was probably designed to allow law enforcement officials to stop a person and get them help. The problem is if someone has a medical condition that makes life unbearable they cannot take there own life legally.

 

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Making things legal or illegal is unlikely to have much effect on what goes on inside people's heads. The law enables society to "force" a psychiatric assessment on people who are suicidal - i.e. to separate the depressed from the terminally ill.

 

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What do you think the punishment for suicide should be?

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State-enforced immortality.

 

It is illegal.

 

Death penalty for it!!! It is attempted murder!!! SCNR.

 

In most states it is already illegal so why don't you bother to find out the facts before saying things like this?

 

coupl'a thoughts
Suicide is a right............not a privilege.
...
Suicide doesn't end the pain, it just gives it to someone else.

 

I kinda agree.

 

You made a funny. But seriously, if the police have to talk you down from a building, it's an arrestable offense.

 

I think it should be a right, and it is in Oregon. Just do it cleanly, lay a sheet down or something.

 

circa 1929
19th floor of a high rise on Chicago's north shore.
Man steps out on the window ledge, adjusts his tie, closes the window(ever the gentleman), and dives head first into the pavement.

 

Keyword here is 'should'. Reread the question before you reply so tactlessly.

 

Which does not make the job of the policeman easier.

And is, therefore, extremely stupid. Or you think it is good to talk me down, than you should do everything to make this easier, which is not really reached if I'm after this anyway a convicted criminal. Or you think it is better if I jump down, then why force police officers to talk?

 

Ummm... no its not.

From Wiki--
Historically, various states listed the act of suicide as a felony, but these policies were sparsely enforced. In the late 1960s, eighteen U.S. states had no laws against suicide. By the late 1980s, thirty of the fifty states had no laws against suicide or suicide attempts but every state had laws declaring it to be a felony to aid, advise or encourage another person to commit suicide. By the early 1990s only two states still listed suicide as a crime, and these have since removed that classification.
--

 

1. No it shouldnt be illegal.
2. Neither. People are not depressed because they are alive, they are depressed for other reasons, such as money, job, illness, etc.
3. Yes. There are often other people who suffer when a family member is charged with a crime.

Late 70s/early 80s minnesota passed some legislation regarding life insurance payouts, making it illegal for insurance companies to withhold life insurance over suicide (they do not have to pay the full amount and there are other caveats lessening insurer responsibility). Going from memory, some of the issues involved elderly persons who had carried the policy for basically their entire adult life and had medical issues beyond depression. Surviving spouses with dependent children left financially despondent after a suicide of their partner. Employer paid life insurance denied by the insurance company. And finally, doctors listing causes of death as accidental (for the above reasons) making statistics on what was actually going on in the real world impossible to determine. Basically, we had no idea how many people were actually killing themselves because of the harm the 'system' inflicted on the surviving family members.

And I remember a few cases where the doctor had listed 'accidental' when the whole community knew the real story. Quietly people talked about how thankful they were the doctor would put his license at risk to ensure the family did not suffer more.

Anyways... those are my thoughts.

 

I made a constructive criticism about this post and if don't know the difference between constructive criticism and tactlessly you should look up there definitions or don't be so thin skinned.

 

Again, all I ask is that you read the question fully before you throw out your criticisms. The question asked whether or not suicide should be illegal, not if it already is or isn't. That's all.