Why is suicide "illegal"?

Question

If I put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger, killing myself instantly (hopefully), it would be considered "wrong" and "illegal". If I were to fail the attempt, I'd get in legal trouble and it would go on my records.

But smoking cigarettes and killing myself slowly over years is somehow not "wrong" or "illegal".

I guess suicide by gun doesn't make any money for anybody, does it?

Answer 1

ALMOND makes a great point, being suicidal and attempting it but failing could cause you to slip into a  manic depression or even psychotic but i also think the government should do more to help suicidal people because they just write them off as depressed and say '' ooo prozac should sort it'' when alot of the time it is deep psychological problems which need serious help and it can be hard not to take the path of ending your own life.  

Answer 2

LOL good question.  Never got why suicide was illegal either.  But h**l I'm for Assisted suicides.  I figure if you want to end your life that's on you.  But you should have to get mandatory counseling if you tried and failed  

Answer 3

You comparisons are a little off in that cigarettes, while unhealthy, don't increase your chances of death like an intentional bullet to the head.  Speeding can kill you too.  Too much soda throughout the years can leave you with diabetes and brittle bones and misery when you're older.  Fat and heart attacks.  Red meat and cancer, sun and cancer, drinking and liver failure.  The list goes on of the things we do and the habits we have that after decades of day-by-days will eventually kill us.

Answer 4

Suicide ceased to be a crime in England in 1961. The main effect of the law had been the possibility that the deceased's estate would pass to the Crown. That provision had not been used for many years. Attempted suicide could be charged as a breach of the peace, but I don't think that had happened for a long time either.

I think people are confusing "suicide" and "assisted suicide" A person assisting another to commit suicide can be prosecuted for murder or manslaughter / culpable homicide.

Answer 5

hurting yourself or anyone else is wrong. you can't expect society to restrict everything. only the obvious things. yeah, people make money off of cigarettes, so that is still around, but people die many ways, like alcohol, extreme sports, even war. the world doesn't make sense, but that doesn't mean you should hurt yourself just because it is legal.

Answer 6

Probably because murder is illegal, suicide is after all still murder, just murder of yourself.

Answer 7

ciggaretts should be illeagal too, but smoking cigaretts doesnt make suicide right. Imagine the pain and suffering families have to go through if you were to kill yourself.Suicide is illegal because your takeing a life

  

Answer 8

i think of it like this....

suicide is illegal because it is against christ and alot of people who wrote the laws are christian. and plus killing yourself slowly with smoking is legal because you will eventually get sick and end up in a hospital and die there. they will expect you to die there and ready to clean the  mess.

but killing yourself by blowing your brains out, people arent really prepared and its not like you going to have people outside as soon as you pull the trigger. it not such a good job cleaning some guy's brains off the wall  

Answer 9

trying to commit suicide makes you a detriment to society. Not only are you dangerous and unstable, you are also a liability to the people around you.

Answer 10

Heh, I didn't know suicide was illegal. You make a very good point.  Government sucks....

Answer 11

didnt know it was....well thats weird now I have the same doubt too haha

Answer 12

it isn't.  nor is attempted suicide illegal.  It is evidence of a mentall illness and can result in committment, but no state has a penal code section prohibiting attempted suicide.  That most people think there is such a crime does not make it true.  

Answer 13

I don't think it is illegal because what can the police do to you when you already killed yourself? Go after your family? It's the roman catholic church that says it is illegal and wrong, but i believe the same thing that it's wrong to kill yourself. You're just thinking of it as the goverment says it is illegal and wrong, but it really has to do with religious beliefs.

P.S. I hope you aren't thinking of killing yourself because i don't want to have been encouraging you because you shouldn't kill yourself, it doesn't help anything.