Dr. Death is free

[saden1]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Is attempting suicide illegal?

Based on the current laws in place, yes it is. You will almost certainly lose your freedom if you fail and are caught. Apparently it isn't in Japan though.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

I'm the exact opposite. I would much rather do it myself than involve anyone else. I mean dead is dead, right?

Dead is dead but the prospect of a failed suicide attempt is just not something I would want to go through. I want the job to be quick and done right on the first try.

[skinsfan_nn]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

If you're terminally ill I think it should be your choice to end your own life.

After all, it's your life, right?

I agree, if you are "terminally ill" it should be your choice.

What is the difference between being put on life support and NOT wanting to be.....? Hopefully if you had a living will and stated you did not want to live like that.

Your loved ones could make a descission to pull the plug.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

I cannot see how killing yourself, or bringing in a 3rd party to assist you in killing yourself, is wrong. As long as there are checks to ensure the individual is lucid, I also don't buy the slippery slope argument.

[jdlea]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

I'm the exact opposite. I would much rather do it myself than involve anyone else. I mean dead is dead, right?

I suppose, but if they can make it so I don't feel anything, I'd prefer to go out that way

[RobH4413]

If you really want to go, and want to go out with medicine, then who cares.

If someone wants to do it, there going to do it. Might as well make it easy on them. Government should really be hands off on things like this.

It's one thing if you harm or endanger the lives of others, it's a completely different ballgame when you want to go out on your own.

[70Chip]

Slippery slope in Switzerland:

Swiss suicide clinics 'helping depressives die' | International News | News | Telegraph

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by dmek25

whats funny is he helps people that want to die. go sell some crack, and you would do less time in prison. thats messed up

He was warned by a judge or court not to assist in any more deaths but he went anyways and did it again. Thats what really got him into trouble.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by RobH4413

If you really want to go, and want to go out with medicine, then who cares.

If someone wants to do it, there going to do it. Might as well make it easy on them. Government should really be hands off on things like this.

It's one thing if you harm or endanger the lives of others, it's a completely different ballgame when you want to go out on your own.

So are u saying that you are for or against what he was doing.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I cannot see how killing yourself, or bringing in a 3rd party to assist you in killing yourself, is wrong. As long as there are checks to ensure the individual is lucid, I also don't buy the slippery slope argument.

Can you explain why you don't buy the slippery slope argument?

There seems to be a movement going around where people just dismiss the slippery slope argument, but there has to be some reasoning behind it? I'd like to believe it because I'd like to think people should be able to end their lives if they're terminally ill, but I can't get by the slippery slope of allowing euthinasia.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

Slippery slope in Switzerland:

Swiss suicide clinics 'helping depressives die' | International News | News | Telegraph

This is the perfect example of how the slippery slope can bite you in the ass on an issue.

[Hog1]

the possibilities in "Death Tourism" are endless!
Hmmm........Love boat...............Death boat......Suicide boat??? Club med...............club death..............Hedonism.............

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Can you explain why you don't buy the slippery slope argument?

There seems to be a movement going around where people just dismiss the slippery slope argument, but there has to be some reasoning behind it? I'd like to believe it because I'd like to think people should be able to end their lives if they're terminally ill, but I can't get by the slippery slope of allowing euthinasia.

I think it's best that I know precisely what slippery slope argument you believe in before I start rebutting it. I can guess what you'll say, but I guess I prefer to hear it "straight from the horses mouth."

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I think it's best that I know precisely what slippery slope argument you believe in before I start rebutting it. I can guess what you'll say, but I guess I prefer to hear it "straight from the horses mouth."

My thing is if Dr. Jack is allowed to help people committ suicide, won't there invariably be more doctors entering into this service? After all, this is a market-based economy, if there is money to be made by assisting the terminally ill to end their lives, docs are going to get involved. The economics are going to provide an incentive for these docs to perform more assisted suicides.

And working where I work (hospital financial administration) I can tell you that hospitals would have a financial incentive to see the terminally ill moved out of the beds. One of the biggest financial drains a hospital faces are the patients who just sit and sit and sit in beds without getting better. A hospital can save over $100,000 by getting a patient out of a bed after a one-week stay compared to a four or five-week stay.

Those two economic factors set up a perfect set of conditions for the greedy and ethically questionable docs and hospitals to push for assisted suicide when it may not be medically necessary/desirable. That article 70-Chip posted about suicide clinics in Europe highlights the troubles you face in trying to determine whether pain and suffering is related to a terminal illness, or simply a temporary result of depression and other mental illnesses. I can easily see docs and hospitals relying on the patient's reported pain and suffering, claiming that assisted suicide is ethical in this situation, all the while hiding that the true cause of the pain is the depression that sets in from having a dangerous illness.

The economic factors here will cause the medical community to push the envelope on this issue. It would require so much governmental oversight to ensure ethics were upheld that the cost likely would not be worth it. In this circumstance, it seems the financial conditions are in place to actually push people further down the slippery slope.