[ExI] right to try bill

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On Saturday, 24 September 2016, John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Sep 23, 2016 at 8:02 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','spike66 at att.net');>> wrote:
>
> >>…Should terminally ill patients be allowed to end their lives via
>>> assisted suicide?"
>>> ​ ​
>>> "yes but" is not a more complete answer it is a inferior answer than
>>> "yes".  And there are no ifs ands or even buts about it…​  John K Clark​
>>>
>>
>> ​> ​
>> Indeed sir?  Suppose the government decides you are terminally ill and
>> deplorable.  Is it allowed to assist you in suicide?
>>
>
> Yes I think so  because I am a libertarian. I also think it's irrelevant
> if the government or if anybody else thinks you're terminally ill or not.
> ​ ​
> The question was if
> ​ ​
> I
> ​ ​
> want to end my life, because I'm ill or for any other reason,
> ​ ​
> should I be
> ​ ​
> allowed to obtain help to do so. My answer is a simple "yes" and I see no
> need to place a "but" after
> ​ ​
> it. If the government wants to help me that's fine,
> ​ if a company wants to help me for a fee that's fine,​
> if my friends want to help that's fine too and I don't want them
> prosecuted for murder after my death. I'm even fine with people who can't
> stand me helping me do what I want because they think the world will be a
> better place after I'm dead; if somebody does the right thing for the wrong
> reason it's still the right thing.
>
> I don't want you to get the wrong idea, I'm basically a happy person and
> I've never had a suicidal thought in my life, although it doesn't
> take much imagination to conceive of theoretical circumstances where that
> would change and I (or anybody) would want to end it all. Making somebody
> live when they want to die as as great a injustice as making somebody die
> when they want to live. That should be libertarianism 101.
>

It's not as simple as that. Most people who try to suicide do it as a
result of a situational crisis or a depressive illness, which we know will
pass even with no intervention beyond keeping them from killing themselves
during the worst moments. Should we instead help all these people to die?


-- 
Stathis Papaioannou
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