Suicide is painless

Can anyone on this forum answer me this Why is it illegal to kill yourself or have someone do it for you? I refer to resent cases where people with incurable diseases wish to die before their illness will turn them into brain dead cabbages, or to stop a life long sentence of pain. Yet It's OK for a military person or squad to go on suicide missions or to lay their lives down for their country or for spy's to take suicide pill. So if we wished to end our life's why are we told that it's wrong to do so?

Sorry to disappoint some of you but I'm not thinking about killing myself. I feel that if a Doctor thinks that a person is in the position where euthanasia is a humane option then why shouldn't they be able to stop that person's life without fear of prosecution. Also if parents have a baby and that baby had, for example, brain damage and would be a cabbage (brain dead) for life why can't the parents decide to have that child killed?

i'm doing a debate at school about euthanasia. i'm on the con side. there's ALOT of issues involving if it's 'ethical' or not. the problem with that is, alot of people's definition of 'ethical' differs, which is why there's such a huge debate over it . here's an example dillema:

pro: pulling out someone's life support (specifically, food and water) can end their life quickly, so they don't have to suffer the effects of dying, such as pain and other symptoms (coughing, vomiting, etc...).

con: starving and dehydrating to death is extremel painful, and it's effects can often exceed those of dying itself. we don't starve animals to death, we put them to sleep. so if we do this to humans, we're treating nimals better than them!

if you have any specific questions, i think i can answer them.

Death is not an option for us, not in this world. Yet why???

You said it best, "Yet It's OK for a military person or squad to go on suicide missions or to lay their lives down for their country or for spy's to take suicide pill."--Clive

That to me is a hypocrisy. So is the fact that a Doctor can't approve the deathwish of the suffering. We can put down our cats, but not ourselves???

Why is that???

Personally I don't ever want to get in a situation where I am plugged into a machine giving me the vigor that my body no longer knows how to obtain. I would rather die naturally. I don't want any artifical life. I want to be pure. Then again, could one stay pure if one were to give up???

Is the want to expire a pure thought???

It is reasonable, but is it pure???

Is it natural???

I think so.

For all desires are some what natural. The keywords being, SOME WHAT.



Abraham

[Edited on 26-5-2003 by Abraham Virtue]

I disagree with ''Suicide'' in whatever form it is .

Putting a label on ''suicide'' and calling it a different word does not make it ''right''

How can one be sure that what the doctor sais is 100% right about his diagnosis?
Many doctors have failed to properly diagnose a simple case of the flu.....and the patient died because of the doctors final report.

I dont listen to doctors......hey,dont listen to me....that is just me...
Doctors are human ,just like us.....and they do not have all the answers to what happens!
Euthanasia is wrong because i believe the person looks for an easy way out......or thinks that all will be fine ....once death comes...
Killing someone is a crime ,it is murder ,and suicide is no different .......you are commiting murder nonetheless ...

Well, animals are just that...they are animals....yes we love them..we take care of them, but we are not animals,although many people treat them better then what they treat other people.........
Sometimes a person suffers for a reason......and that reason is for the benefit for the soul..........I honestly believe it is for the benefit for the soul........

What if terminally ill people went on suicide missions for the military?

That would kill 2 birds with one stone, so to speak...

Mind you being parachuited into an enemy country (France) with a colostomy bag would be difficult

"Alors! What izz zees funny water from the sky?"
"Eet tastees like urine!"
"What! Who is thees funny old woman attacking us? Begone old hag, back to your bed"
"Watch it froggy surrender monkey, I have a colostomy bag and its loaded to kill!"
"Take cover! incoming bedpan!"
"These ameriacan old peoples do not fight fair! Time to surrender!"

Why is sucicde illegal?

Simple....Trillions of dollars would be lost within the medical industry. You know cats are only concerned about their CUT.

Why ignore reality. If a man is screaming in horrible pain and the man is obviously destined to die in horrible and slow suffering, then is it more humane to let him suffer, or more human to kill him???

This isn't about what another feels, it is about what the one who feels. It is about the one who is the suffering. I don't see how you can limit a man or woman to the moral aspects of this matter. For what is moral is to feel and be good. There is no good in ignoring suffering men or women. Tell me, how the one is more virtuous than the other.



Abraham

[Edited on 27-5-2003 by Abraham Virtue]

"That to me is a hypocrisy. So is the fact that a Doctor can't approve the deathwish of the suffering. We can put down our cats, but not ourselves??? "

I suppose the main reason this sanction is against doctors is because of the phrase, "Primum non nocere", above all, do no harm. This is part of an ethical obligation that keeps doctors honest and well-intentioned. I suppose the reason for the legal thing is because what if it were legal? Look at how F*ed up our health care system is, in America. After awhile, the insurance companies would start suggesting it as a viable option very early on- because it saves them money that way, in the long run. Large sums of money.

Advanced stage AIDS? Euth. Alzheimer's? Euth. Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent, Severe? Euth.

When you start talking about taking people's lives as a medical treatment-- even if it is sanctioned and regulated, and at the people's own consent or directive-- you are getting into a slippery slope argument.

I view it as allowing the drug companies to make more money... who do you think will manufacture the prescription?

Personally, I'm all for someone's advance directive to be carried out... that is their decision, and I would be their employee, respecting their wish. The unfortunate problem is that alot of folks out there aren't as well-intentioned.

Just my thoughts, not trying to convince anyone of anything.

It's simple, the only reason it seems confusing is because you young pups have no idea upon what ideologies your soscieties were built.

Within the Judeo-Christian belief, you do not have the right to take which you do not own, and as far as God is concerned, you do not "own" your life. If you take it, you deny yourself of whatever it is that God had in plan for you. You may pull the plug before the time was to be. Also, there is more to dying than the mere act. It might be the last chance to do something right.

No, a "suicide mission" is not the same thing as suicide as a less painful way out. It is an act of love for your fellow man and your nation. Two sperate the two is not hipocrisy, to associate the two is simply immoral and is a freakin' slap to the face of the brave people who faced their fears for the good of the rest.

To make it clear even for the slowest, suicide is all about one's own self, a suicide mission is all about those who it will benefit.

I was talking about people with incurable diseases, not people who have deathwishes. There is a diference between the deathwish of the living, and the deathwish of the dying. Don't you agree???



Abraham