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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.politics
Date:         Tue, 26 Jan 1993 21:42:28 PST
From:         Jonathan Fisher <jfisher@NETXWEST.COM>
Subject:      Re: Kevorkian Sets Sights on Ohio
Comments: To: POLITICS@ucf1vm.cc.ucf.edu

>  >
> > > > Dan, I am left to wonder what you think is happening in our world today.
> > > > It is obvious that too many teenagers are committing suicide now.  I
 don't
>
> > > > propose to encourage them.  I submit to you that they already feel
> > > > encouraged.  Unless you are personally stopping people from committing
> > > > suicide, you too are "allowing" "_anyone who wants to commit suicide" to
> > > > commit suicide.
> > > > On a more relaxed note, I didn't say that it was a good thing.  But I
> > > > will ask you what can be done about it?
> > > >
> > > > Jonathan
> > > >
> > > I agree with you that many people are commiting suicide now that have no
 goo
> d
> > > reason and that these people are obviously not receiving the attention
 they
> > > need. But why make it easier for them to make the wrong choice?
> > How do you propose to do this?
>
> First of all, (and I know Kevorkian isn't guilty of this) doctors should not
 be
> allowed to profit from this type of activity ( assisting suicide). That limits
> one motive for performing such a procedure when it really shouldn't be done.
I agree. But I think that if you think about it, you'll realize that allowing
a patient to commit suicide in fact cuts off a doctor's income.  If the
patient continues to live (oh, I guess I am just talking about the people
who are hospitalized for a long time), the doctor profits more.  But for
the other cases, I agree.
> Secondly, some sort of review board should be set up to determine of a given
> case is reasonable and counseling should be mandatory for any person
> considering this. Not necessarily to convince people that they shouldn't
 commit
> suicide, but to provide some preparation for the individual and the family to
> deal with such a choice if the individual decides to go through with it.
No.
I can't even go along with a review board.  Who would staff it?  How do you
stop people who are dead against suicide from being on the board?
I could go with getting "permission" from multiple doctors.  They could
say that the person is in sound mind and can make this decision.  But,
sorry I don`t have a major problem with someone who is of sound mind and
body deciding that they don't want to live anymore.  If you tell them that
they can't commit suicide, how are you going to stop them?
>   >
> > > Let's limit
> > > Kevorkians practice to those with terminal diseases.
> > How do you propose to do this?
>
> Well, for starters, how about passing a law making it a crime to assist
 suicides
> in all but certain cases, and create some sort of review board to sort through
> cases as I've mentioned above.
Alright. Let's pass a law.  Would this be constitutional?
>
> >
> > > I don't think that you can
> > > call me guilty as a member of society for indirectly encouraging these
 peopl
> e
> > > to commit suicide.
> > > You don't know me and my relationship in society. How you
> > > can spread around blame like a blanket that covers everyone doesn't feel
 fai
> r
> > > or realistic to me. I actually worked at a crisis center hotline so I take
> > > offense to this allegation. You are right though to some extent. I think
> >  people
> > > should take some sort of active role, either directly through voluteer
 work
> or
> > > by pushing for counseling programs. Unfortunately, it seems that there are
 s
> o
> > > many problems waiting for time and money to be addressed, I can't see this
> > > issue taking anything but the backburner (i.e. counseling for these
 people).
>
> > Sorry.  No offense was meant.  My point was there is no blame to laid.
> > Because, I don't think that there should be (any blame).  It's just that
> > aside from a dictatorship, I don't see any way to cut down on suicides.
> > I also believe that, assuming that we could stop people from committing
 suicid
> e,
> > that there are plenty of legitimate reasons for people to commit suicide
> > short of a terminal disease.
> >
> No serious offense taken. I agree that there may be (or ARE, rather) cases
> other than terminal illness that might justly warrent assisted suicide, but
> it's not up to Kevorkian to decide these standards. We need some consensus
 from
> society as to some basic limits to go on and then some type of board or
> something to review cases to see if there is a legitimate reason for seeking
> such an extreme action.
OK.  So the situation under discussion here is the one where a person wants to
kill himself but wants some help?  I think that, as I've said above, maybe a
 panel
of doctors who don't rule suicide out out-of-hand.
>
> > >
> > > - Dan
> > >
> > Jonathan
> >
>
> - Dan
>
Jonathan

P.S.
I'd continue with my thoughts on this, but I've taken too long as it is!
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