• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Can a terminally ill person be murdered?

Can a terminally ill person be murdered?

  • Yes but it's a less serious murder

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No- no harm, no foul

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    36

X Factor

Anti-Socialist
Dungeon Master
DP Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
61,606
Reaction score
32,214
Location
El Paso Strong
Gender
Undisclosed
Political Leaning
Conservative
If so, is it just as bad as murdering someone who's not terminally ill, or is the severity lessened given the person was going to die any way?
 
We are all terminal. Humans do not live forever.:mrgreen:

Since we are all going to "die", your premise is flawed.

imo, the answer is yes. Being terminal is not a mitigating factor.
 
If so, is it just as bad as murdering someone who's not terminally ill, or is the severity lessened given the person was going to die any way?

Seems like a strange question. They are still a person until they die so they can be murdered.

I just hope terminal people don't go the Walter White route... that could get really ugly.
 
We are all terminal. Humans do not live forever.:mrgreen:

Since we are all going to "die", your premise is flawed.

imo, the answer is yes. Being terminal is not a mitigating factor.

Ultimately I agree with your conclusion but by terminal, I mean someone who is likely to die, anyway, in a short amount of time.
 
Seems like a strange question. They are still a person until they die so they can be murdered.

I just hope terminal people don't go the Walter White route... that could get really ugly.

I know. It is a strange question. It stems from another thread where it's been said that someone who is terminally ill should, basically, not be viewed the same way as someone who isn't.
 
I know. It is a strange question. It stems from another thread where it's been said that someone who is terminally ill should, basically, not be viewed the same way as someone who isn't.

Wow, what thread was that?
 
Ultimately I agree with your conclusion but by terminal, I mean someone who is likely to die, anyway, in a short amount of time.

imo, no one other than the "terminally ill" person has the right to determine when they die. Therefore is someone terminates the ill person without consent, then it is murder.
 
imo, no one other than the "terminally ill" person has the right to determine when they die. Therefore is someone terminates the ill person without consent, then it is murder.

You raise an interesting question. Can a person consent to their own murder?
 
You get the doctor to over prescribe the fentanyl, then use all the patches at once.

Leave your family out of it. Not only is it illegal, it's immoral to burden a family member with responsibility for your death. Your death is your responsibility, not theirs.
 
You raise an interesting question. Can a person consent to their own murder?

There's a lot of terminal people who give consent to be murdered, but that's only because the state that they live in won't statutorily allow assisted suicide. That's what giving someone consent to murder oneself is about - assisted suicide.

I think Oregon allows for assisted suicide, but not sure how many other states do.
 
You raise an interesting question. Can a person consent to their own murder?

You really need to frame your questions in not so broad terms. imo there is no way within the current laws for someone to do so.

"Murder occurs when one human being unlawfully kills another human being. See Homicide. The precise legal definition of murder varies by jurisdiction. Most states distinguish between different degrees of murder. Some other states base their murder laws on the Model Penal Code." https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/murder

"The unlawful killing of another human being without justification or excuse."
Murder legal definition of murder
Legal Dictionary | Law.com

There are a few States that allow for the terminally ill to end their lives (suicide - assisted).

I still believe that if someone takes another persons life based on the legal definition of murder, it does not matter if the person was terminal.
 
You raise an interesting question. Can a person consent to their own murder?

In some states, sure. It's called "assisted suicide".


Edit: Oops, someone beat me to it. Again, lol!
 
If so, is it just as bad as murdering someone who's not terminally ill, or is the severity lessened given the person was going to die any way?

We're all going to die anyway.
 
other
expected
IF a man kills another one (terminally ill), IMO, its not murder, if love is involved ..
otherwise
 
If so, is it just as bad as murdering someone who's not terminally ill, or is the severity lessened given the person was going to die any way?

Law and Order statement, claiming it was a law exam question: If a man jumps out of a window on the 100th floor, and you shoot him from a window on the 90th floor, is it still murder? Answer, of course, was yes.
 
If so, is it just as bad as murdering someone who's not terminally ill, or is the severity lessened given the person was going to die any way?
Murdering someone with a terminal illness is still murder.

It's just as immoral and illegal.

This assumes that we are treating something like doctor-assisted suicide in a terminal patient as separate from "murder."
 
We are all terminal. Humans do not live forever.:mrgreen:

Since we are all going to "die", your premise is flawed.

imo, the answer is yes. Being terminal is not a mitigating factor.
:yt
/end thread
 
You raise an interesting question. Can a person consent to their own murder?

It isn't a murder, then. But, consent to being killed? Yes, of course they can. We call that "assisted suicide." Murder -- by necessity -- encompasses an element of non-consent.

This is like asking, "Can a person consent to their own rape?" Yes. When that happens, we call it "sex" instead. Rape -- by necessity -- encompasses an element of non-consent.

At any rate, regarding the OP, an actual murder is still just as much a murder if someone is terminally ill. The relative closeness of a person's death does nothing to alter their right to determine their own lives, or necessarily alter their desire to live. Those are the linchpins of why murder is a crime.
 
It isn't a murder, then. But, consent to being killed? Yes, of course they can. We call that "assisted suicide." Murder -- by necessity -- encompasses an element of non-consent.

This is like asking, "Can a person consent to their own rape?" Yes. When that happens, we call it "sex" instead. Rape -- by necessity -- encompasses an element of non-consent.

At any rate, regarding the OP, an actual murder is still just as much a murder if someone is terminally ill. The relative closeness of a person's death does nothing to alter their right to determine their own lives, or necessarily alter their desire to live. Those are the linchpins of why murder is a crime.

Can't speak to every jurisdiction but you cannot consent to your own murder in Texas, and like in the case of abortion where the only thing that counts is the legal definition, there is no "assisted suicide", just murder.
 
Do not go gentle into that good night
Dylan Thomas, 1914 - 1953

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


Steal one year, one month, one day even one minute from someone trying to enjoy the marvels of this earth for a moment more before dying is murder most foul.
 
Back
Top Bottom