Right to assistance in suicide
Should the right to assistance in suicide apply to people don't have
grave physical medical problems?
Some forms of injury and disease, which are not terminal, can make
life painful and useless, potentially for decades. In those cases, I
say the answer is yes. But what about people whose only medical issue
is depression?
The article describes a real case of someone who applied for suicide
aid because perse had been "denied housing assistance". The article
is not explicit, but it this had left per homeless. Let's suppose so,
because that is an interesting case to think about.
If you wish to die rather than be homeless and live on the street,
what is the state's duty to you? The dispute presented here is
whether the state's duty is to compel you to keep living on the street
until random events change your situation, or to help you commit
suicide.
Each of those policies would lead to bad outcomes sometimes, so this
is a difficult choice between two imperfect policies. But that is
just one aspect of your situation, just one aspect of your
relationship with the state.
By considering more of the situation, we find a better answer: the
state's duty is to give you a decent place to live. The state should
offer that to everyone who is homeless, whether perse wishes to die or
not.
Maybe then you would want to live. If you still want to die, it would
not be due to homelessness.
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