Facts of Life
A request for assisted suicide is typically a cry for help — for counseling and positive action. It is false charity to kill a person who really needs care and love. In 1998, the National Right to Life prepared a fact sheet on the question which includes these statistics:
• Terminally ill patients who desire death suffer from depression, which is treatable. In one study, 24% of terminally ill patients who desired death had clinical depression.
• Suicidal intent is not a permanent condition. Of those who attempt suicide but are stopped, less than 4% go on to kill themselves in the next five years; less than 11% will commit suicide over the next 35 years.
