I can't recall, maybe in the King in Yellow story, but there was "suicide booths" where you could just be walking down the street and decide "now's the time" and "poof" you'd be gone. Not much more on it just that they were around.
It was in "The Repairer of Reputations" in the collection
The King in Yellow.
I think I sort-of land in the middle group on this subject: I think I look at this from a harm reduction perspective. I
do wish it was an available option (
probably once you turn 18 [or something similar], though questions of waivers here get...decidedly messy), but I'd want there to be at least some requirements (e.g. you've gotta submit a will and make two requests with a certain amount of time in between...I'm loosely looking at the protocols in Europe for this in the context of terminal illnesses) and required counseling in the interim. Basically, it would be available and accessible...just not on a whim.
My suspicion is that this would eliminate quite a few impulsive suicides (not all, because reference the term "impulsive", but at least some which are motivated by not seeing any other option), at the cost of an increased number of well-conceived ones. I tend to think that the number overall might drop: The number of folks who apply for a terminal prescription but then don't use it is substantial, and I suspect that there are a number of people for whom knowing an acceptable exit is there would actually be enough to ensure that they can work through the underlying issues rather than having to cover it up because of the risks of being involuntarily committed (I really think that should be reserved for folks who are a threat to persons other than themselves). Making it clear to folks that they don't have to "sneak out the back door when they have the chance" would reduce those done under unfavorable time pressures.
I'd argue that also important would be a reduction in the number of failed suicide attempts or folks stuck choosing (relatively) painful methods because that's what they can manage (I differentiate such decisions here from those who consciously choose a method with a higher level of pain out of some element of personal preference), or attempting "suicide by others", such as "suicide by cop" but also including some other categories of this (my sibling's SO tried this last summer...unfortunately, they tried to use my sibling as their "other" of choice; no shots were fired, but the resulting legal mess took all summer to sort out).
