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suicide

C

Curious Cat

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why is it really against the law? if someones going to kill themself they're going to do it either way. and besides, is it not the persons own life they're choosing to take? i wonder... hmm.....
 
Curious Cat said:
why is it really against the law? if someones going to kill themself they're going to do it either way. and besides, is it not the persons own life they're choosing to take? i wonder... hmm.....
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I think it's illegal so that when someone makes a failed suicide attempt they can be compelled by the state to attend inhouse psychiatric counseling.
 
Curious Cat said:
why is it really against the law? if someones going to kill themself they're going to do it either way. and besides, is it not the persons own life they're choosing to take? i wonder... hmm.....
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It's murder.

Durr.
 
For the legal eagles out there: Is suicide, or attempted suicide, actually "against the law" in the U.S.? Federal and/or in any state?

Please be specific.

Thanx!
 
thanks for sharing.

but about the counsling, what if it doesnt do any good for the person, but they're good at hiding it?
 
IMO I own my body and if I want to kill myself you cannot stop me.
 
It is a long-standing debate, one that I can see both sides of.

Suicide is a permanent "solution", to a usually temporary problem.

People who commit suicide are often suffering from long-term mental illness, or from very sharply emotional immediate trauma.

In most cases I think those who have their suicide attempt stopped, eventually are glad that someone stopped them.

Really though it should probably be treated as more of a mental-illness issue than a legal one.

G.
 
Moderator's Warning:
I do not think this is a Conspiracy Theory in any way. Moving it to Law and Order.
 
Goshin said:
It is a long-standing debate, one that I can see both sides of.

Suicide is a permanent "solution", to a usually temporary problem.

People who commit suicide are often suffering from long-term mental illness, or from very sharply emotional immediate trauma.

In most cases I think those who have their suicide attempt stopped, eventually are glad that someone stopped them.

Really though it should probably be treated as more of a mental-illness issue than a legal one.

G.
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usually temporary problem.
and they arent always glad for that. some people have sued others for saving their life in a life or death situation.
so why do we have the law involved?
 
Curious Cat said:
usually temporary problem.
and they arent always glad for that. some people have sued others for saving their life in a life or death situation.
so why do we have the law involved?
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In order to have cause to interfere for the sake of protection.
Else, there would be no legal course of action for the state to be involved, and people would kill themselves.

In this manner, the state can step in and stop that from happening until whatever reason becomes trivial enough to the individual they no longer wish to kill themselves.

Often people who attempt suicide and stopped from doing so later come forward and are thankful for the intervention, stating often "wow that was a stupid idea."

Then again, most people who attempt suicide are doing it for attention, because if you really wanted to kill yourself, you would not do stuff such as artificial scratches on your wrist o.r.. umm... holding your breath until you turn blue.
 
Curious Cat said:
why is it really against the law? if someones going to kill themself they're going to do it either way. and besides, is it not the persons own life they're choosing to take? i wonder... hmm.....
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I guess some people think we can haul a corpse into court and demand to know why it killed itself.:lol:

Jessica said:
Murder is illegal. It does not matter the victim.
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Hmm, you think you can murder yourself?:doh
 
Suicide is illegal under the English doctrine of felo de se (felon of himself):

To be guilty of this offence, the deceased must have had the will and intention of committing it, or else he committed no crime. As he is beyond the reach of human laws, he cannot be punished. English law used to inflict a punishment by a barbarous burial of his body, and by forfeiting to the king the property which he owned and which would belong to his relations. The charter of privileges granted by William Penn to the inhabitants of Pennsylvania contains the following clause: 'If any person, through temptation or melancholy, shall destroy himself, his estate, real and personal, shall notwithstanding, descend to his wife and children, or relations, as if he had died a natural death.'
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It is illegal mostly as a result of long standing legal tradition.
 
Makedde said:
I guess some people think we can haul a corpse into court and demand to know why it killed itself.:lol:



Hmm, you think you can murder yourself?:doh
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I couldn't no. But then I'm not suicidal. Too bad for those of you who wish I would.

Murder one self -- well, to take a life would be a definition of murder. To take a life without permission might be another. So, if the first definition would apply, and it most often does, then yes you could murder yourself.

Now, legally speaking, as simply as I could put it, in order to give yourself permission to take your own life would have to be done "with sound mind and body" and the thought of killing yourself is often the exact opposite of that. So you cannot legally give yourself permission to take your own life, because if you even considered it, your mind is not sound enough to make this judgement.

A.K.A. You are too crazy to know what is best for you.
 
It is against the law so that the mechanism for intervention can be in place.

In other words, people in crisis can be helped with extraordinary means.
 
Oftencold said:
It is against the law so that the mechanism for intervention can be in place.

In other words, people in crisis can be helped with extraordinary means.
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Ha ha you said exactly the same thing I did one (or four) posts above yours, and yet you get the thanks from Captain Needs-to-be-smacked.

Wee! :rofl
 
Jessica said:
Ha ha you said exactly the same thing I did one (or four) posts above yours, and yet you get the thanks from Captain Needs-to-be-smacked.

Wee! :rofl
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His was more succinct. :2razz:

I do have issue with your characterization of those who self-injure in another post of yours. I treat people with this issue, and though it is not about suicide, it, also, is not about attention-seeking either. It is quite a serious issue that is often hidden from others. I can provide more information if needed, but it is beyond the scope of this thread.
 
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CaptainCourtesy said:
His was more succinct. :2razz:

I do have issue with your characterization of those who self-injure in another post of yours. I treat people with this issue, and though it is not about suicide, it, also, is not about attention-seeking either. It is quite a serious issue that is often hidden from others. I can provide more information if needed, but it is beyond the scope of this thread.
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No, it's just peculiar it happened twice to me in the same thread. It happens often. It's common to see a girl say one thing and get ignored, and then a guy saying the same thing, but then all the other guys readily agree with that guy. I just did not expect it from you. :2razz:

But you also explained your reason nicely. I tried to perhaps simplify my answer and then probably oversimplified. In doing so, I probably did lose the brevity of it all. Hah! That's me.
 
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jacksonzachary said:
Suicide is against law.
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Would you have a link showing that? I've found several links saying it is not only not illegal in any state but, it's also not against federal law. And I know some life ins policies hold it against pay outs but, that's not because it's illegal.

Thanx,

ADK
 
Curious Cat said:
thanks for sharing.

but about the counsling, what if it doesnt do any good for the person, but they're good at hiding it?
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That's the largest problem, recognizing the symptoms early and saving a life. The thing about suicide is that we can make it illegal all we want, but that will not stop someone hellbent on ending it all, only with the proper support can that happen. One thing I've noticed is there is still a stigma attached to getting mental help in many places around here, and sometimes we are all guilty of being too busy to notice these things, which is a shame.
 
Makedde said:
Hmm, you think you can murder yourself?:doh
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Yes, you can. Murder is the taking of life outside of the legal definition of justifiable homicide, you are not acting in self defense, so you are essentially the victim and perpetrator of the same crime. I am not on either side of the fence on this debate and both sides make good points, however the above logic is exactly how it works.
 
I think the biggest problem is that suicide happens for different reasons. People often hate their life so much they want to commit suicide, but only as a short term reaction to their specific circumstances. These people can often get counseling, overcome the problems in their life and decide to live again.

However, some people have medical problems so bad that death really isn't actually that bad of an alternative. Modern medical technology often means that you can add months to someones life, but at the cost of the person being in terrible pain. Some people feel that death is better than spending a few agony ridden months in a hospital at great cost to their relatives. These people should be allowed to avoid suffering if they should choose.
 
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