More often than not, the patient who seeks a physician s assistance in committing suicide really needs a good psychiatrist. With the right combination of medication and therapy, the anguish of depression, like physical pain, can almost always be alleviated. The presumed answer to that question is that each of us is the ultimate master of our own lives, and that we are therefore free to dispense with our lives as we see fit. The logical extension, apparently, is that we should be permitted to engage professional assistance to execute our will. We learn that God, the Source of our lives, is life s ultimate owner.
Life is our most precious gift.
Judaism teaches that, when we die, the Shema should be the last words on our lips. Even at that moment, as we lose our hold on life, on all that we hold dear, we affirm our faith in God. We acknowledge that no human being is or ought to be ultimately in control of matters of life and death. We are permitted to remove impediments to God s final decree. We must seek to provide comfort for the dieing, and alleviate suffering, even if an unintended result is a slightly sooner death.