Taltos

I absolutely agree to this. The one basic human right, above any other, should be how and when and for what we'd be willing to lay down, voluntarily, our most cherished possession, that of our life. The Right to Die, is perhaps our most important right, being more basic and underlying many other fundamental 'rights', including such things as health, love, freedom, and religion.

No one has the right to take the life of another, but each person should have the right to lay down their own lives for a reason they believe in, even if others, even if their own family, friends, neighbors, government, or chuch, do not believe. Perhaps it is a matter of illness, or depression, or something more abstract like honor, but a person should have the right to give up their own life.

I agree to all of this, only insofar that it is heartbreaking and tragic and very, very moving. I don't believe that the friend or loved one in this example, however, has a right to say, "You should suffer your misery so that I don't feel bad."

It's a tragic situation either way, and no one wants more tragedy. But you don't solve society's problems by taking away people's rights and dictating how they should live, think, and feel. Well, I guess some people do...

If you don't want your loved one's to take their life, that's fine. No one begrudges you for that. There are ways to help them that don't involve coercive force. But literally forcing someone to live, to endure beyond a hardship they don't find worthwhile (even if its just the act of everyday living without knowing what lies beyond death) is wrong.

__________________
Though we are not now
That strength that in old days
Moved Earth and Heaven;
That which we are, we are:
One equal temper of heroic hearts
Made weak by time and flesh
But strong in will
To seek, to strive, to find
And not to yield.
-Alfred, Lord Tennyson