Abortion, Capital Punishment, and Suicide

[Gass3268]

S/O/S

[Maxwell]

S/O/S

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Strongly oppose all.

[DavidB.]

Strongly oppose all.

Why do you oppose legalizing assistance with suicide? Genuinely wondering

[PJ]

I'm absolutely pro-choice and support making abortion free of charge, although I prefer encouraging use of birth control as an alternative.

I oppose the death penalty on both ethical and practical (i.e. it's far too expensive and irreversible) justifications, and likewise oppose life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

I'm in favor of assisted suicide regardless of whether or not it is in the case of a terminal illness, provided that there are checks to ensure that individuals choosing to do fully contain decision making capacity and doctors are not overriding the will of the patients (as has been the case in some instances of assisted suicide in practice). 

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Strongly oppose all.

Why do you oppose legalizing assistance with suicide? Genuinely wondering

It's a position that I'm not entirely comfortable holding, but I hold it because of my religious beliefs. If asked to give a secular reason I'd say that I think it opens the door to a generally unacceptably instrumentalist and utilitarian outlook for the medical profession.

[DavidB.]

It's a position that I'm not entirely comfortable holding, but I hold it because of my religious beliefs. If asked to give a secular reason I'd say that I think it opens the door to a generally unacceptably instrumentalist and utilitarian outlook for the medical profession.

I understand that. For instance, my country has very liberal laws in this respect, which has recently led former proponents of these laws to criticize them because the prevalence of the phenomenon leads to inflation of the value of human life. Still, I think that is an argument for extreme caution and for moral integrity when it comes to deciding whether one should be aided at ending one's life, not an argument against granting people the legal right to end their lives in dignity.

As for the religious reasons, Judaism is obviously against any form of suicide, including assisted suicide. Still, I think not choosing euthanasia might be my decision (and I don't know if it'll also be my decision if I'd be in continuous pain), but others have the right to make a decision for themselves, and since it is such an incredibly hard decision I will not condemn anybody who makes a different choice (to be clear, I am absolutely not saying you would, because I am fairly sure you wouldn't). And I believe that choice should be legal too.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

It's a position that I'm not entirely comfortable holding, but I hold it because of my religious beliefs. If asked to give a secular reason I'd say that I think it opens the door to a generally unacceptably instrumentalist and utilitarian outlook for the medical profession.

I understand that. For instance, my country has very liberal laws in this respect, which has recently led to former proponents of these laws to criticize them because the prevalence of the phenomenon leads to inflation of the value of human life. Still, I think that is an argument for extreme caution and for moral integrity when it comes to deciding whether one should be aided at ending one's life, not an argument against granting people the legal right to end their lives in dignity.

As for the religious reasons, Judaism is obviously against any form of suicide, including assisted suicide. Still, I think that might be my decision (and I don't know if it'll also be my decision if I'd be in continuous pain), but others have the right to make a decision for themselves, and since it is such an incredibly hard decision I will not condemn anybody who makes a different choice (to be clear, I am absolutely not saying you would, because I am fairly sure you wouldn't). And I believe that choice should be legal too.

That's a more than respectable position. My decision to let my religious views more or less dictate my political views on all but a few issues is relatively recent and I'm still not quite sure how to moderate that or tone it down or if I even want to. My position on this might (might) change depending on where I decide to go with that.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Oppose abortion on the whole (though I still don't quite have a coherent position on the governments role in it).

Oppose the death penalty (though I also believe that the system works and that many who are executed do deserve it, regardless if the punishment is as immoral as the crime).

Support legalized assisted suicide.

[DavidB.]

That's a more than respectable position. My decision to let my religious views more or less dictate my political views on all but a few issues is relatively recent and I'm still not quite sure how to moderate that or tone it down or if I even want to. My position on this might (might) change depending on where I decide to go with that.

I understand that very well. It is something I'm obviously struggling with, too.

[Dirk]

Support/Support/Support. I suppose I can reasonably be called "pro-death".