Why is suicide illegal?

[TheSteve]

Think about it. Is there any real reason for a such a law to be in place? If someone wants to end their life then they should be able to without having to worry about their corspe sitting in jail.:cheers:

No really, in all seriousness this law does not make sense.

[Destino]

1-- Because some christians believe killing yourself will send your soul to hell.

2-- Because it's not enough to control how you live, they must also control how you are able to die.

[Joe Sick]

Just another in the long line of laws that make no sense.

[Oldskool]

Suicide is not illegal. You can't prosecute a corpse...

Attempted suicide is illegal.

[TheSteve]

Originally posted by Oldskool
Suicide is not illegal. You can't prosecute a corpse...

Attempted suicide is illegal.

Whatever. Why is attempted suicide illegal, when its a life and the person taking it has control of that right, but abortion is legal, and well, we won't go there and open a can of worms.

[Thiebear]

Attempted suicide should be illegal.
The amount of money it takes to fix you because your too stupid to kill yourself is more than 2nd hand smoke...

[Prosperity]

In principal I agree that you should have the right to take your own life, but the state should try to prevent it since a little bit of help can make someone forget about killing themself.

[Taylor 36]

Our laws state that it is illegal to "take or attempt to take a life. "

It doesn't specify anything beyond that. And killing yourself is, in fact, taking a life. It's the same principle as euthanasia.

The difference with abortion is the argument that a fetus is not actually alive until it is born. When a person kills themselves, or attempts to, there is no one that is going to argue about the actual "life" in question.

[Ancalagon the Black]

Originally posted by Oldskool
Attempted suicide is illegal.

Damn straight! I think it should carry the death penalty! :)

[Doggmatic]

Why?

Because they can't tax you when you're dead. That's what they want.

[Mr. S]

Originally posted by Ancalagon the Black


Damn straight! I think it should carry the death penalty! :)

haha, i think there is/used to be a law in new york saying that the penalty for attempted suicide is death. Tell me how that makes sense.

I dont think religious beliefs of the soul going to hell for suicide should be considered when making the law. I personally agree, if someone wants to kill htemselves, more power to them. One other reason for why they try and make attempted suicide illegal is cause many times people attempt to do it for attention and will do it on the bridge or something. Also, people think the person has not thought out things and may leave a family behind. I dunno, I just say let the person kill themselves.

[Coach Williams]

Originally posted by Ancalagon the Black


Damn straight! I think it should carry the death penalty! :)

:doh: :doh: :doh:

I think the first 3 replies gave the answer.......

[Ancalagon the Black]

Originally posted by KINGBRICE_28


:doh: :doh: :doh:

I think the first 3 replies gave the answer.......

Hope you didn't miss the sarcasm.

[Tom [Giants fan]]

In a way, it isn't really attempted suicide that is illegal. It is attempted murder. Your own. And that is illegal. Well, that is how I look at it.

[SkinsBry]

Originally posted by Doggmatica Johnson
Why?

Because they can't tax you when you're dead. That's what they want.


My thoughts exactly. You beat me to it.

[ntotoro]

All I know is that, if everyone who took the chickensh1t way out by committing suicide was put in jail, it would be a good place for a Stickup... phew... :puke:

Nick

[Darth Tater]

Suicide, or at least attempted suicide, is an illegal thing because it is against natural law found in Theistic or Traditionlist (Humeistic). Though suicide would not necessarily be wrong under Niestchian enquiry, the strongest would be allowed to implement any measures they want.

In a free society, however, legal justification ALWAYS rests on natural law. Traditional-based ethos (moral Darwinism) would conclude the suicide is wrong because society has found that such action is detrimental to the society and those societies which limit it, survive while those that don't cease. In a Theistic-based ethos, such enquiry would find that suicide is frowned upon for telelogical reasons.

[OrangeSkin]

Think about all the people that suicide hurts. That's why it's illegal.

[TheSteve]

That's a lame excuse. Abortion causes hurt to the mother psychologically and emotionally, that's legal.

[Sea Bass]

Actually I don't think suicide or attempted suicide is illegal in many states.

[Renegade7]

Some people don't want to live. Not a thing I personally can do about it. But some people, are actually happier knowing they don't have to go through pain anymore. Some people can't be helped. Some people can't be saved. Of course death is demoralizing, there aren't many occasions when it's not. But despite the side-effects, I feel someone has just as much a right to not live in pain as they do the right to live.

Who knows? If I know someone who commits suicide, I might change my mind slightly on the issue. I can't sue 'em for damages, though, that'd be pointless. I'll just have to live with that they died on their own terms. That's worlds better then dying on somebody elses.:2cents:

[Nerm]

In many cases suicide attempts are related to mental illness like depression or bipolar disorder. Allowing police to intervene will often save a person's life when they are acting out of hoplessness and depression. Treatment can reduce the hoplessness and depression that precipitates the attempt.

In most cases there will not be a prosecution of the "offence", but allowing for the immediate intervention of legal athourities can save the person's life and force them into treatment.

I guess it makes sense to step in when someone is making irrational decisions based on a distorted thinking related to mental illness. The use of these laws for people making the decision to end their life in other cases is on less firm grounds IMO.

[Ancalagon the Black]

Originally posted by OrangeSkin
Think about all the people that suicide hurts. That's why it's illegal.

Demonstrating that an act adversely affects others does not provide sufficient basis for rendering that act illegal.

If I were to insult and spurn my parents or dump my girlfriend for no reason, that would hurt them deeply. But it's not illegal (and shouldn't be).

[skinsfan51]

Originally posted by steveskins
Think about it. Is there any real reason for a such a law to be in place? If someone wants to end their life then they should be able to without having to worry about their corspe sitting in jail.:cheers:

No really, in all seriousness this law does not make sense.

Because self-murder (we don't like to think of it that way, do we?) is still murder, and murder is against the law for obvious reasons.

Should a 16 year old teenage girl be legally allowed to murder herself because she just lost her boyfriend and in her mind her whole world has fallen apart? There are not many people, if they are honest, that will say that they never considered suicide themselves because life, in their opinion at that time, became to hard to bear. I know I did as a teen. It was never so overpowering for me that I actually tried to follow through, and I'm glad now, for me, my wife and our six children, that I didn't.

Murder affects a lot of people in a negative way, and suicide is self-murder. It's been said long before me that suicide is selfish, and it's true. The person considering it is only thinking of their own circumstances and not how their decision will affect others, and that is wrong. Life is never bad enough to consider suicide. As a Christian I KNOW that there is a God who cares and loves you. He has a plan for each person's life. To end it early and face eternity before your time is just plain foolish.

[skinsfan51]

Originally posted by Ancalagon the Black


Demonstrating that an act adversely affects others does not provide sufficient basis for rendering that act illegal.

If I were to insult and spurn my parents or dump my girlfriend for no reason, that would hurt them deeply. But it's not illegal (and shouldn't be).

Yes, but that is a FAR cry from being selfish and murdering yourself and then, with your actions, asking those same people to spend thousands of dollars to bury you and suffer grief for the rest of their years on this earth because you did something <i>extreme</i> to hurt them. That is wrong.