system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I believe assisted suicide should be legalized and that the fact it isn't is an infringement on those individuals' free choice. CMV.

Like the title says, I think assisted suicide should be legal. It's honestly a little boggling to me why it is so incredibly controversial. The arguments pro are a little self-explanatory I think (free choice, etc.) Instead, I've tried to summarize and rebut some arguments from the opposing side, which I've boiled down to this:

- Often, the request of death has a lot to do with the loss of certain bodily functions and the accompanying loss of dignity. The argument is often people are extremely despondent initially regarding a loss of limb or sense, but often come to realize they can still have a fulfilling life. Some people might choose to kill themselves in their initial despondency. To me, whether or not this is true is irrelevant, this is not the government's decision to make. There should be safeguards in place so people can't walk out the door and take a cyanide pill, but if the patient is properly informed and is forced to consider his/her decision, then it's out of the government's hands.

- Some people "choose" to do it, because of the financial burden it puts on their families, a factor outside their control. That money forces them into the decision between breaking their family's bank and killing themselves. Because of the money factor, assisted suicide might be chosen much more by poor people/people of color. I agree with this statement, but it doesn't change the sad truth of the situation. The alternative to not legalizing assisted suicide (which only costs $35-50 on average) is to legally mandate that these people do have to spend more money. Until our (the U.S.'s) health care system's high costs are somehow made affordable to everybody, this is the unfair reality of the situation, no different than the terminal illness that is "forcing" the patient to consider assisted suicide in the first place.

- It's legal in every state to refuse necessary treatment to sustain life and it's also legal to be prescribed painkillers for comfort's sake in this context. This rebuttal is a little personal, but my aunt has a severe form of ALS. In the past year and a half I've seen her go from a fully functioning, healthy adult to a wheel-chair bound mute in a neck brace, her disease being incurable at all stages. If she so chose, it would be illegal for her to end it now. To suggest that she could simply refuse all treatment to prolong her life and take painkillers/sedatives for comfort as a serious option to me shows a serious lack of empathy of her situation and many others'.

- Finally, that legalizing assisted suicide will result in the eventual expansion of the "program" such that we will soon start assisting people suffering psychological stress, perhaps even mandating a person be euthanized. Usually a finger is pointed at Holland here, so I did a little research. There is only one circumstance where euthanizing any person without his or her consent is legal is in the case of a child below the age of twelve, with the consent of his or her parents and all the expected conditions, terminal illness, extreme pain/discomfort, etc. Whether or not that is fair is irrelevant for this argument, I think; the point is that even the most liberal country in the world on this issue isn't going around deciding which elderly people to kill off, a la Palin's death panels. Even on the slipperiest slope, the mandatory euthanasia of adults is a non-issue.

tl;dr Financial hardship is a reality that people have to deal with and have the right to choose to avoid; waiting periods and proper legal safeguards can prevent people from killing themselves through their doctor before they even attempt to adjust; although it is legal to refuse treatment and receive pain meds, it is hardly a reasonable alternative to direct suicide with some conditions; there is no precedence for the "slippery slope" argument that I could find.
gpt
Do you think that a person suffering clinical depression should be able to commit assisted suicide?  If not, what if they're *also* suffering terminal cancer or something similarly unpleasant?  Where would you draw the line?