State-assisted suicide
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State-assisted suicide is the use of government to commit suicide. It is usually performed by committing a capital crime and receiving a capital punishment.
State-assisted suicide was a popular method in medieval and Enlightenment era Scandinavia,[citation needed] where religion forbade suicide and suicidees were prohibited from religious burial. The usual method was to kill an infant[citation needed] - infanticide was a capital crime; and infants, once baptized, were considered to be pure and sinless and therefore certain to receive salvation. The death penalty, usually by beheading, gave the condemned a chance to atone his or her sins before death. This was also common in the German states of the same period; several states outlawed the practice, but to no avail.[1]
Amnesty International said "While "volunteer" executions are sometimes referred to as a form of state-assisted suicide, prisoner-assisted homicide would be a more accurate label."[4]
See also
References
- ^ Ira Glass; et al. (24 August 2012). "Episode 473-Loopholes". This American Life. WBEZ and Public Radio International. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
- ^ "CNN - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos". CNN.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "USA (Ohio): Death penalty: Darrell Wayne Ferguson (M) - Amnesty International". Archived from the original on 2009-08-07. Retrieved 2008-08-10.