why is suicide illegal?

Answer 1

There are several reasons, most of which deal with legal practicalities rather than the moral value of life.

First (and as another person noted), the illegality of suicide enables the state to compel the "criminal" to seek mental help. Were suicide legal, the state would have no ability to infringe someone's personal liberties by forcing them into therapy. While there are a few cases where suicide could be deemed rational (painful terminal illnesses, etc.), the vast majority of people who attempt suicide have some form of mental imbalance. Keeping suicide illegal ensures that those individuals get the help they need.

Second, illegality permits the state to charge others with *accomplice* liability. It is an established truism of law that a person cannot be deemed an accomplice to a crime if there is no principal-- in other words, if killing yourself is legal, then helping someone *else* kill himself is also legal. This would raise huge evidentiary problems, as every time someone were on trial for murder, he would claim that the victim wanted to die. Since it would be difficult to determine what the victim actually wanted (being dead and all), and with the criminal justice system favoring acquitting guilty people over convicting innocent ones, this would result in a lot of murderers walking free.

Finally, keeping suicide illegal prevents... less savory end-of-life scenarios. Consider an aging grandmother with a lot of money and a variety of severe health problems. Her children might pressure her to commit suicide rather than spend "their" inheritance postponing the inevitable. As people at this phase of life tend to be vulnerable and suggestible, legal suicide raises the possibility that a somewhat-befuddled grandparent would be browbeaten into killing herself by greedy would-be heirs.

It's worth noting that suicide is legal in Oregon. There are a number of regulatory hurdles in place to prevent some of the concerns I listed above. I encourage looking at the debate surrounding the Death With Dignity Act for more information.

Answer 2

I don't know the real reason but I believe it has a lot to do with the sanctity of life,and the ethics it entails.
However I've always found the law somewhat of an oxymoron.
What the hell are the lawmakers going to do with a dead body to make it pay for the illegal act of suicide?

Answer 3

Because you are not allowed to escape civil liabilities. By the way, suicide is not illegal, it is the attempt to commit suicide which can be tried in a court of law and punishment meted out.

Answer 4

Suicide is not illegal. It should be illegal, and anyone caught commiting suicide should be investigate, arrested, given a public defender, tried, convicted, and sentenced to electric chair.

Answer 5

Suicide is not illegal, the attempt to commit it is.

Answer 6

I think I have the real answer, it just came to me.

When someone tries to commit suicide, they are considered to be mentally ill. The state has decided that they need psychiatric care. The easiest way to force someone who is mentally ill into treatment is to convict them of some crime, nobody cares what it is, and sentence them to treatment.

So it's simply an avenue to get them commited. NOT to get them pegged with a criminal history.

Answer 7

Because it's illegal to escape from a prison without the jailer's permission. You aren't here by your own accord to begin with, so why try to leave it on your own accord?! It don't make sense.

Seriously tho, in most countries, it is against the law to take one's life, or the attempt to do so. So if you fail to commit suicide and get arrested, technically you could get prosecuted for attempting murder. If you get arrested, don't worry about going to jail (at least, not in most civilized countries), because you will be declared insane, and therefor probably be sent to a mental institution. If you didn't, well, you'd be at the Pearly Gates answering to whoever it is you believed you'd answer to, who would definately be pissed off at you for trying to destroy one of his/her creations (without his/her permission).

I guess it all boils down to who has a claim on you. Apparently, that ain't you!

Answer 8

I do not know! But isn't it a moot law? Who will be prosecuted if a person commits suicide? Is there anyone left to prosecute?

It seems that this is another example of law-maker's intelligence on public display! Namely, zero^10

Answer 9

it is not illegal but it is illegal if a health professional does not do what they can to prevent it.....it is much more an ethical issue because the assumption is that if the person was emotionally stable they would make another choice

Answer 10

If God is still giving you a whole life to live, and u actually don't know what will happen next, it could be a gr8 life..why shall u end it urself anyways... don't u think that it's so unfair and that u proved to be weak infront of life's difficulties?? life's a challenge !! face it..