[ExI] Right to Suicide

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On Monday, 26 September 2016, Rafal Smigrodzki <rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
> On Sun, Sep 25, 2016 at 10:23 AM, Stathis Papaioannou <stathisp at gmail.com
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','stathisp at gmail.com');>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> If an 18 year old tells the doctor he plans to kill himself because his
>> girlfriend left him, and the doctor helps him to do so after determining it
>> is his choice, should that be both legal and ethical?
>>
>
> ### I would not want to get my branding mixed up with dealing death. My
> brand, as a physician, is of somebody you go to to protect your life and
> heal your illness. Assisted suicide should be done by non-physicians,
> ideally impartial counselors, thanaticians, who would get paid if they
> persuade you not to die but also would get paid if you kill yourself with
> their help.
>
> But yes, anybody not bound by a freely given oath (such as an oath of
> military service) should have the right to spend his money on a
> thanatician. This would avoid messiness, no rotting bodies found in
> apartments when rent is unpaid, might relieve the organ shortage, and most
> importantly would avoid arbitrary interference in sacred freedoms of
> humans, the freedom of association, the freedom of trade, and the freedom
> of property.
>

In the example I gave, in the jurisdiction where I live the doctor would be
obliged to try to prevent the patient from killing himself. If he did not
he would be open to accusations of negligence, may lose his license and may
be sued by the patient's family.


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20160926/099960fc/attachment.html>