Assisted Suicide

Arthur Barnes said:I happened to stumble upon this in the penal code:

Euthanasia on demand.

Section 94.

If someone kills another person at their explicit and serious request, I guess they could face anywhere from one to eight years in prison. Maybe.

Good grief, I guess this might be one of the most nonsensical laws I've ever come across. 😲

So, let's say my neighbor Mark stops by, and I happen to record him—both video and audio—explicitly stating that he wants me to kill him. He’s completely serious, totally lucid. I go ahead and fulfill his request, only to end up with eight years in federal prison because I was simply honoring someone's wishes. It’s all fine, right? The request doesn't hurt anyone else, the guy consented fully, and he’s still dead set on having his wish carried out. I guess the legal system just works that way.

Where did this law even originate, and what’s the logic behind this approach? I guess I'm just wondering if any of you actually see the sense in it, because to me, it seems completely nonsensical.

No one owns their own life, let alone anyone else's, so I guess they don't really have the right to ease someone else's suffering either. Only the Creator has the authority to take a life. Since we didn't exactly create ourselves, maybe we just don't have the standing to decide who lives or dies.

Arslan said:I suppose if we're talking about killing someone who expressed a desire to die during a momentary lapse in judgment, then the law actually makes sense in preventing it.
But when it comes to banning euthanasia—or assisted suicide—the legal framework seems poorly defined. I mean, someone could just set up a mechanism where a person injects themselves with poison via a needle, perhaps by simply pressing a button to release the toxin.

There is also the matter of aiding and abetting suicide.