Interesting. I hadn't fully thought of the distinction. Liz
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of ornamentalmind Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 5:37 PM To: Memphis Freethought Alliance Subject: Re: Oregon Leads Overall, many confuse suicide with assisted suicide. >From Wikipedia: Suicide - "... By the early 1990s only two US states still listed suicide as a crime, and these have since removed that classification. In some U.S. states, suicide is still considered an unwritten "common law crime," that is, a crime based on the law of old England as stated in Blackstone's Commentaries. (So held the Virginia Supreme Court in Wackwitz v. Roy in 1992.) As a common law crime, suicide can bar recovery for the family of the suicidal person in a lawsuit unless the suicidal person can be proven to have been "of unsound mind." That is, the suicide must be proven to have been an involuntary, not voluntary, act of the victim in order for the family to be awarded money damages by the court. This can occur when the family of the deceased sues the caregiver (perhaps a jail or hospital) for negligence in failing to provide appropriate care.[4] Some legal scholars look at the issue as one of personal liberty. According to Nadine Strossen, President of the ACLU, "The idea of government making determinations about how you end your life, forcing you...could be considered cruel and unusual punishment in certain circumstances, and Justice Stevens in a very interesting opinion in a right-to-die [case] raised the analogy."[5]..." About Assisted Suicide, here is the chronology from the last decade or so: http://www.finalexit.org/more-chronology.html The home page there has a lot more info. On Oct 2, 3:22 pm, "Liz Purkrabek" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The idea that suicide is illegal is sort of funny. I mean, if a person is > successful at committing suicide, then punishment is out of the question. > If the attempt is unsuccessful, medical and psychological care is > implemented. I have never heard of someone going to jail or being fined > after a suicide attempt. > > This subject sort of reminds me of criminalizing abortion. If abortion is > illegal, shouldn't women who get abortions be jailed if caught? If I > attempt suicide unsuccessfully, shouldn't I be punished too? > Liz > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Aaron > Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 4:49 PM > To: Memphis Freethought Alliance > Subject: Re: Oregon Leads > > What about perfectly healthy people who want to end their lives? > Should suicide of any kind be illegal? > > Aaron > > On Oct 2, 10:39 am, Clogtowner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi y'all - just in > case:http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/oct/02/law.health1- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/memphisfreethoughtalliance?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
