Sharlotte Hydorn sells such kits for $60 on the open market largely through the internet. She firmly believes that there are many people who are very sick, terminally ill, or are in severe pain who want out of this life. But is such merchandising ethically justifiable? Her defenders point out that the components of the kit are readily available on the open market, such as medical tubing which the user can hook up to a helium tank. These people also say she is exercising her 1st Amendment rights and she is providing a service the medical establishment won't.
Opponents counter that she is indiscriminate in her sales with the danger, then, that the wrong people will use the kit as an experiment to see if it works. Also, there are many of us who at times feel despondent or experience deep trouble financially or in relationships and get a fleeting thought that we feel like ending it all. These feelings are often situational and pass when the crisis is resolved. Yet, what if in the throes of the pain we had the kit and used it? If a loved one killed himself, what a tragedy it would be if the loved one died, never knowing that the issue has been resolved. Death is a sacred passage that should never be trivialized.
What is your view?
Personal note: I will be teaching an ethics course at an international graduate school in Seoul, Korea this fall.
