No, the death of a human being can have widespread effects on family and friends.

Not at all...My uncle committed suicide and my Mom's family never got over it...

No. The real victims are the people left behind. They've got to deal with so much pain.

First of all suicide is not a "Crime". There are laws against suicide but the purpose of those laws are to allow others some power in acting to prevent a death. Nobody in has ever been charged for attempting suicide nor obviously, completing the act. Most counselors these days do not even use the phrase "committed suicide" because it implies one has "committed" a crime.

as bad as it sounds, the one committing the suicide can actually get charged for it.

No the person commiting suicide leaves behind those who love them like mothres fathers brothers siblings etc those are the victims

Hardly. Not only does it kill one, it injures many -- friends, relatives, and in a sense, all of us. "Do not ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

Yes. I know everyone says that it's a selfish act. But look at it this way: some poor guy with a hellish life commits suicide. His family is broken up about. Who is the selfish one? The man, who now has no worries? Or the family, who let him live that hellish life and now is all mad at him for committing suicide? If you ask me, and you did, people ought to be a LOT more sympathetic towards the suicide guy. You don't know what kind of hell he's living.

The children of a person who commits suicide very often believe that it is their fault

No, it hurts many people.

Selfish? Yes! Brainless? Yes! Victimless? No! In reality, the term "victimless crime" is an oxymoron. There are NO such things as "victimless" crimes ... otherwise they would not be considered as CRIMES.

Gene H, yes it is sad, I know just what you type about. Sometimes a child can be in a hellish life. Most end up being useless as adults. What gets me is the state does charge them, and the parents whom really are to blame (most of the time) get to cry and pretend they are upset. this is why its good when we see neighbors, relatives, etc treating their child poorly we contact social services.

And the person in pain from cancer? So wrought with pain that she can't even speak but only howl? And who are YOU to say someone's mental state is any less horrible? Yeah, yeah, yeah, life is precious. Right up until you are a burn victim with no face. Then doctor assisted suicide would be all right, too. People with god complexes are always like that.

What make you two so knowledgeable? You act as if you can read peoples' thoughts. Why is it more 'humane' to force a human to suffer and yet to put animals down? Where does this morality come from? Mengele killed people. Kovorkian assisted them. You don't see a difference? What makes a human life so much more valuable that you would force a human to live with unbearable pain? I have the distinct feeling is this were occurring to each of you, your holier-than-thou morality would change in a heart-beat.

If YOU were writhing in agony, you're "moral" superiority would disappear. You fail to answer HOW keeping such people alive is promoting unique and precious human life. Another problem: like many christian thinkers, you seem to feel that you "know" what people are thinking. How could you POSSIBLY pretend to know that a suicide was a selfish act when you cannot possibly know the horror the person was feeling? You both dance professionally around these points without actually addressing them. I feel it is more human, kinder, and more correct to consider quality over quantity. As footnote, I bet you guys are against the death penalty, right?

One could certainly argue that. I think anyone who tries it and fails should be locked up on attempted murder, and anyone that seriously thinks and plans for suicide should be put away on conspiracy to commit murder. Honest!

I can't believe it! You would kill someone convicted of something, but not someone in pain! I can't hardly even believe it. What self-serving morality you have. Scott D: the record of suicide shows cowardice? How? Which recorder gets into the mind of the suicide? Which on tells us what is motivating the suicide or how it is? Your position is, at best, flip. You really know it all. You could pinch-hit for god himself, I imagine. You know that Gov. George Ryan, a staunch conservative, put a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois because so many innocent people were being convicted. The problem with guys like you who don't want to think but only blindly follow the rules is that you can't understand nuance. It takes courage, wisdom, and the conviction of doing the right thing to decide each case individually, but not, I suppose, if you let the rules choose for you. East Hill: just one comment. Why are the families of suicides always so surprised? The suicide guy probably DID approach them. Just because they didn't understand isn't his fault. And if he didn't it might well have been because he saw that as futile, perhaps based on the family's disposition.

Why do people commit the crime of suicide? Because they were a victim?

No victim of Kevorkian was ever charged with a crime. Kevorkian was charged with assisting a suicide. He has a long history of perverting death to fulfill his morbid interest and fascination. He was never charged nor accused of being an "accessory" to a suicide. There is no charge nor crime such as accessory to suicide. Yes, there are laws regarding assisting a suicide, not attempting or completing. Laws regarding suicide are meant solely to allow treatment to those who refuse it or cannot give permission to treat after an attempt or allow one to prevent it beforehand. It is not nor has it ever been the intention of these laws to punish. They are not criminal in intent. A crime must be committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it and for which punishment is imposed upon conviction. No laws exist forbidding suicide. No punishment is possible nor has anyone ever been charged with such a crime in the U.S. This isn't hard to understand. What would be the point of such a charge? How could you possibly punish a suicide? Do you honestly believe that a law against it would somehow prevent a suicide or attempt? You are arguing for the sake of arguing and regardless of the facts you'll see it your way. If you insist on arguing every statement please find a subject thats less sensitive and hurtful to those who have lost one to suicide..