Man helps wife commit suicide.

reply to post by operation mindcrime

reply to post by Badge01


Hey yeah, I admit I got a bit caught up in it, I didn't finish reading the story until a little after the post was submitted. I completely forgot to edit it until right now, thank you!!

-JR

Originally posted by bandaidctrl
First, should this man be prosecuted for assisting in his wife's suicide, he obviously knew about it and did nothing to stop her from killing herself.

No. But I fully support assisted suicide. If someone wants to die, I think it should be a legal option.

Second question, what are the views of those here on ATS about suicide, this case in particular the woman was clearly in pain, does she have the right to kill herself?

Absolutely! It is my opinion that people who are dying and in pain owe nothing to anyone.

Long story short, do you agree with this man's actions? Why? If not what are your reasonings behind it.

I agree with him and would do the same for my husband as he would for me. We have discussed it. I believe it is the ultimate act of autonomy to take your own life. If my life is mine; if I make the choices about my life and my body, then my life is mine to take. I think the law is all turned around on this.

It all comes down to one sentence from the article:

Isn't life sacred, to be treasured at all costs, regardless of illness or disability?

And each of us has to answer that for themselves. My answer is "no". I have watched my mother and my best friend die of cancer and the sanctity of life, while precious, does not justify this painful and miserable end. Life is to be treasured. But there comes a point when the misery outweighs the sanctity. And that point is for each person to choose for themselves.

If your answer to that question is "yes", I fully respect your choice for YOU and would do all I could to contribute to keeping you alive. But my answer is "no" and once the scale tips, I want to be respected enough that MY wishes for MY life would be honored.

Very sad and sweet story. Thank you.

There's a difference between making assisted suicide legal and making it difficult to prosecute.

That would be my suggestion. Keep the laws preventing it being used as a method of quick inheritance but make it difficult to prosecute unless certain specific provisions were met. That way, authentic acts would be defacto permitted.

For instance, no AS by an agency, company or organization. Keep it in the hands of a single loved one by carefully navigating the requirements. Get the input from survivors who have done it. Make sure it's humanely accomplished, etc.

Don't know if this is possible, I have no real knowledge of the legal system and so forth, but it's preferable, imo, to fully enabling death as a solution to anything. Remember there are people who have been in a coma or disabled who have made a full recovery. Anything that would tilt the balance away from the remarkable ability of the human being to recover and regenerate is not a good plan.

$.02