Waiter! Check please!
Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 12:32AM LEADERS: "Assisted suicide: Going gently; The terminally ill should be helped to an easeful death, if they ask for it," The Economist, 18 July 2009.
Suicide is not a crime (you fail and society takes pity; you succeed and society has no choice), but--as the editorial points out--helping a suicide is.
The escape zone in Europe is Switzerland, where it's legal so long as it's done without profit.
There are obvious desired safeguards for the process, like a waiting period.
What's tricky is when there is no terminal illness, but just a very tough lot (e.g., paralyzed, or the husband who wants to go with his terminal wife).
Actually, I can understand the husband wanting to go with the wife, even as that decision is clearly made under unbearable duress.
No easy answers here, just continued exploration. But I do believe in the right.
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