# Is suicide illegal?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suicide-illegal/107934>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 8, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suicide-illegal/107934 "2002-05-08T17:50:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![OfBlinkingThings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ebca7d/32.png) [@OfBlinkingThings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OfBlinkingThings)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suicide-illegal/107934/1 "2002-05-08T17:50:36Z")

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A friend of mine recently told me that the act of suicide is a crime, and though rarely enforced, there is a law that could land you jail time for a botched suicide. Is this true and if so has anyone ever been convicted of the crime? How much time did they serve?

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**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suicide-illegal/107934/2 "2002-05-08T17:54:07Z")

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hmm… wasn’t this same question asked quite recently?

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**Author:** ![bhb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bhb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bhb)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suicide-illegal/107934/3 "2002-05-08T17:57:34Z")

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well, i’m pretty sure that it is illegal to commit suicide, atleast in america. To the best of my knowledge people who commit suicide are not sent to jail, but rather to a mental institute until they are deemed “fit” to leave.

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**Author:** ![OfBlinkingThings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ebca7d/32.png) [@OfBlinkingThings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OfBlinkingThings)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suicide-illegal/107934/4 "2002-05-08T18:00:38Z")

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Sorry Sailor if its a repeat, I’m new to the board so I wouldnt have seen the first post.

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**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suicide-illegal/107934/5 "2002-05-08T18:01:53Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by sailor \*  
> \*\*hmm… wasn’t this same question asked quite recently? \*\*

[Yup](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=108256&highlight=suicide+illegal).

Zev Steinhardt

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2002, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suicide-illegal/107934/6 "2002-05-08T19:23:22Z")

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Since this has been discussed so recently, I will close this thread and direct further comment to the thread linked to above by Zev.