assisted suicide vs suicide prevention

[tjakey]

As usual the theists frame the debate in the most simplistic, all or nothing way, "Is all suicide evil, or is all suicide okay? Given only those two choices I would err on the side of letting people make their own decision based on their perception of what the future holds for them. Are there times when suicide is the poor choice? Sure, and if one has the opportunity to help someone make what, in the long run, would be a better choice, all too the good. Are there times when people decide that suicide is their best option, also sure. It isn't even hard to imagine one; tired, old, alone, ill, in constant pain with no hope of a future without that pain. Add in America's health care system which is deliberately designed to suck every possible bit of wealth out of you before letting you die, wealth that could easily benefit people (kids or grandkids) that you deeply love. People who are also suffering the agonizing passage of time as they watch you struggle toward the inevitable conclusion. What would be a more noble, more moral, choice than a quick, quiet exit?

And if there is a god out there who thinks that is somehow a sin, punishable by eternal damnation, torturing and suffering, (mull that over for a minute) than that is a god not worth worshiping.