Why Liberals Should Oppose Assisted Suicide | National Catholic Reporter

Why Liberals Should Oppose Assisted Suicide | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: The Social Liberal impulse actually gave us laws against suicide as part of the moral nanny state.  They also gave us laws against adultery and contraception.  I am sure there are those in the Church that would like to ban adultery again and contraception if they could get away with it, but it won't happen - and it is likely that in the end, assisted suicide will become legal - not because we are endorsing suicide (no one endorse adultery either when it was legalized and, contrary to popular belief, few pro-choicers endorse abortion) - and that legality will come the way Roe did, through a SCOTUS decision.



Now lets be clear about terms, the impulse to assisted suicide is Social Libertarianism, not social liberalism.  We social libertarians believe in freedom, even if we don't endorse the action taken in absence of what are now very real punishments for attempting or assisting suicide.  The question is not whether we wish to assist suicide, but whether we wish to continue punishing the attempt.  In those terms, the answer is obvious.  We can still channel suicide attemptors to behavioral health wards without also including the prospect of jail.



No one who believes in repealing anti-suicide laws also believes in using them as a financial boon for the health budget.  Indeed, that is exactly what social libertarians would oppose. That would be a suicide mandate (many social libertarians are already economic liberals, just look at a Nolan Chart).  MSW can channel Sarah Palin all he wants, but assisted suicide does not lead to death panels. There is no provision for mandatory suicide in this movement, only taking the punishing power of the state out of the issue.



Finally, I will repeat the techical correction from yesterday.  Ike's tax rate was over 90%.  JFK and LBJ cut it to 70%.  The rate is not about revenue, its about stopping the CEO class from cutting jobs and then getting a bonus.  The high tax rate confiscates any such blood money.



BTW, I am on medical assistance, suffer from bipolar and probably have prostrate cancer - and I live in Maryland.  I am not likely to seek suicide at this point nor will my family encourage me to do so, nor my case worker.  However, should I come to the late stages of cancer where the pain and inconvenience are particularly high, I would not want any caregiver who helps me end my life to be jailed, nor would I wish to be jailed for an incomplete attempt.  Those last pieces are what this movement is really about.