[troutman]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

To anyone? Really?

Suicide is not illegal. What's at issue is to what extent the state and our health care system should facilitate suicide.

Some context: For every suicide death, there are an estimated 25-30 unsuccessful attempts. Fewer than 10 per cent of people who make an unsuccessful suicide attempt go on to die by suicide.

If we make it easy for anyone to reliably and painlessly kill themself, the number of Canadians who die of suicide would increase dramatically, perhaps 10-fold. Would that be a good outcome, in your mind?

I wrote a legal history paper on suicide. The problem with suicide legislation is you can’t really punish someone who is dead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_legislation

In ancient Athens, a person who had died of suicide (without the approval of the state) was denied the honours of a normal burial. The person would be buried alone, on the outskirts of the city, without a headstone or marker.[2]

A criminal ordinance issued by Louis XIV in 1670 intended to be far more severe in its "punishment" ritual of an obviously-already-dead body: their corpse was drawn through the streets, face down, and then hung or thrown on a garbage heap. Additionally, all of the person's property was confiscated; this measure was intended to deter suicide by punishing their heirs financially.[3]