Euthenasia

[Meatball]

I think if someone was in pain, and not the ability to do anything, that person has the right to end there life themselves.

Should a doctor be permitted to assist them? What do you mean by "not able to do anything"?

[Amphora]

I think if someone was in pain, and not the ability to do anything, that person has the right to end there life themselves.

Should a doctor be permitted to assist them? What do you mean by "not able to do anything"?

I think so, but with the familys permission. Well if a person was in a critical position, on their death bed, having loss of limbs. Could they inject themself with medicine if they were able to? But for some circumstances that is what nurses and doctors are their for.

[theVOID]

I think anyone has the right to end their own lives at any time medically dependent or not, or to give permission (recorded in writing or video) for anyone else to. It's a sad thought that some people chose this option, but i don't feel that anyone has the right to make decisions about another persons life or death, it's one of the only things in life that is entirely personal.

[Retorth]

Personally, I think the stupidest law is that suicide is a chargeable offense. It is your own life and you aren't hurting anyone except yourself (except emotionally if you have family, of course, but this is entirely circumstantial).

I'm not trying to imply I'm suicidal, don't get me wrong, but thinking about it, I do think its fairly silly to disallow someone to end their own life if they so wish. Admittedly, sometimes the suicidal person has a reason for wanting to end his life which isn't exactly valid but it is still his life at the end of the day.

[Meatball]

Where is suicide illegal? Not in Canada, England or the United States.

Wikipedia - Legal views of suicide

[Retorth]

According to the link you provided:

Singapore

In Singapore, a person attempting to commit suicide can be imprisoned by up to one year.

India

In India, attempted suicide is a punishable crime by up to one year in prison and/or fine. For a brief while, the Supreme Court had interpreted the section of the penal code which criminalizes suicide as unconstitutional but a recent decision has upheld the constitutional validity of prohibiting suicide.

[Meatball]

Attempted suicide != suicide, that was my point.

That aside, countries which have criminalized attempted suicide typically have more dire human rights issues than anti-suicide laws.

[Retorth]

Ok I think maybe there is a slight misunderstanding with my post.

When I said "suicide", I was, obviously, referring to attempting suicide. Once a person commits suicide, that person is dead so yeah to charge the person would be moot.

That aside, countries which have criminalized attempted suicide typically have more dire human rights issues than anti-suicide laws.

Can you explain that?

[Meatball]

Ok I think maybe there is a slight misunderstanding with my post.

When I said "suicide", I was, obviously, referring to attempting suicide. Once a person commits suicide, that person is dead so yeah to charge the person would be moot.

That aside, countries which have criminalized attempted suicide typically have more dire human rights issues than anti-suicide laws.

Can you explain that?

Both India and Singapore have criminalized homosexuality, for example. Both countries also have issues with police corruption.

It's a common myth that actually killing yourself is illegal, and that theoretically someone can be charged with suicide. I just wanted to clear it up because that was the tone of your original post.