A call to make assisted suicide available to prisoners
Writing on the Oxford University blog Practical Ethics, Christian Browne, a young British doctor and bioethicist, argues that the plight of prisoners is essentially the same as the terminally ill. A life sentence behind bars is the same as unbearable suffering. So why shouldn't they be allowed the privilege assisted suicide if it were legal? Without it, prisoners will end up committing suicide in a more painful ways.
Furthermore, prison doctors - whose role is to alleviate suffering - are complicit in prolonging prisoners' torment: "an undignified and torturous existence serving a life of suicidal solitude could be avoided". Finally, society would benefit as well: "the financial cost of maintaining an individual who'll never leave the justice system would be saved".
