This is a really thorny legal issue, as well as a moral one. If your body belongs to anyone, it is yours; bodily autonomy is the cornerstone of the philosophy of natural rights, individual sovereignty and moral agency. You can't believe in those things if you think anyone else has a claim over your physical body.
So, it should be your decision, and no one else's, when to clock out, right? If you decide you don't want to exist anymore, who else has the authority to tell you otherwise? The deceased in this case was 18 at the time of the incident. Legally, he was an adult.
The girl (who was 17 at the time) is being charged with manslaughter. The prosecutor's argument is that, although assisted suicide is not illegal in Massachusetts, the accused went well beyond rendering constructive criticism and helpful advice. She coerced him. If you read the excerpted text messages in the article, it is easy to see how someone could interpret the conversation that way. In this light, this is not just a case of someone helping a rational adult make the conscious decision to end his or her own life. This was someone manipulating and compelling someone who was incapable of thinking objectively or assessing risk or consequences to do something which cannot be undone.
Thoughts?
Not only a thorny legal issue, but a thorny moral one as well. Was the dead kid terminally ill or just unhappy? If she was trying to be supportive of someone that was unhappy by telling them to kill themself, she's an idiot! (and so is he) Stupidity isn't against the law. I don't see a legal case here at all!
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
So should I have allowed her to clock out instead of calling the ambulance? - see https://steemit.com/psychology/@anura/starry-starry-night-letters-from-a-madhouse-come-in-if-you-dare - actually I was more concerned that she would survive but with some sort of irreversible damage. She is a firm believer in the right to 'clock out'. I respect that yet now she fights to remain in. So just as well the ambulance was called ...
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit
I was just wondering ... suicide is legally classified as a crime in much of the Western world at least. If you survive the authorities have the right to lock you up, albeit in a safe ward. What about elsewhere ... East Asia?
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit