Do we have a right to die? Well I am conflicted. As a libertarian I should be in favor of letting people commit suicide if they so choose or of having assisted suicide if they feel they can no longer live in pain or other circumstance. As a Catholic, I am opposed because you’re not supposed to die by any means save a natural death. So let us discuses both sides as best we can.
Those who say we have the right: For one, it is your own body. You are allowed to jump out of airplanes, dive down to the depths of the sea and even clime mountains. We do many dangerous things that risk our lives. So why is it that we are allowed to risk our lives doing such things but not allowed to take it? Then there is the fact that people are suffering from diseases that are terminal. Some of these unfortunate people are in severe pain. Do they not have the right to end their own suffering when all manor of medication fails? And what if they cannot kill themselves but need the life support turned off for them? Why can't they have a doctor flip the switch for them that will end their suffering? Some States have already passed laws allowing people to have assisted suicide. This of course is better than traditional as the other person can at least insure that this is what that individual really wants. There are even seniors who want to be euthanized because they feel they are nothing but a burden to their own families. Of course this is sad, but it is also their own bodies. Do we as individuals have a right to decide this? We are given that choice when we appoint health care proxies to determine if to attempt resuscitation or not. Of course this is a person dying on there own and it being determined if they still want a chance at living. But for some, there is very little difference between choosing to die by not being resuscitated and having some one help you.
Libertarians ask themselves these very questions. They wonder about how many rights I personally hold over myself the individual. As such, because it is my body and I am not hurting anyone else "physically" then it is ok.
Those opposed: The people opposed to such things remember what it is like to loose a loved one. They hated that feeling with a passion. As such, a friend or family member choosing to die of their own free will is foreign to them. Sure they will praise the soldier who jumped on the hand grenade as a hero. But that is because the suicide had some sort of meaning. It was not senseless to die to save others. However, choosing to die for selfish reasons (no matter how benign) just turns many people’s stomachs like mine. I do not want to loose any of my friends and family in such a way. I love them all dearly irrespective of how often I get to see them or feel about them. With regards to faith, suicide is like spitting in the face of God because you are murdering yourself. You have taken Gods only other role in your life (deciding when it is your time) and finished yourself off. Then there is the emotional content. What of the people you leave behind. Do they not have a say because they love you? Then with respect to assisted suicide, doctors are supposed to save lives not take them. How does that meet with the Hippocratic Oath and come out on top?
These are the reasons people who cannot see suicide as anything but a cowardly act feel. It is also how people of faith feel when confronted with such an issue. As such there is no easy answer as we really do not know how we will confront the issue when we are faced with it.
Conclusion: It is a hard topic to right about. I myself have only thought about suicide in the concept of what it would be like without me. What would happen to my parents, my family and my friends? What would my death do to them? Would it make one of them commit suicide, or break up the family? What ways could it be done? I have access to knives and guns, and when I really got creative I found that there is an infinite number of ways to just kill yourself off. It actually scared me how detailed I had gotten in thinking about it. But after that time I never really thought of it again. I wanted to confront the world’s problems that were put in my path with every ounce of strength and vigor I can muster. Am I afraid to die? Yes I am. But I prefer a natural death to one that I impose on myself. As such I personally am against suicide. I hate the very idea of it all. However, I cannot speak for everyone. As such I have to come down the middle road on this and say that I would allow for assisted suicide for people on their death bed. But that is all especially as you cannot stop a healthy person from killing themselves if they really wanted to die. So this is how I feel. Again thanks for reading and I hope you get something good out of this too.
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