Leo Hee Khian does not believe that the state should prosecute and punish suicidal people. However, he does defend the law that provides for such prosecutions and punitive measures. For a start, Khian defends this law from accusations of discrimination by arguing that criminal laws exist to proscribe behavior (Khian, 2018). Secondly, Khian argues that if laws were to protect negative behavior to avoid discrimination, crimes such as theft would have to be legal. Thirdly, Khian argues that laws do not just exist to prosecute and punish but rather to discourage some forms of behavior. Finally, Khian argues that laws against suicide are similar to laws like those against pornography as they protect society against some form of ill conduct. Khian makes a good legal and social argument about laws against suicide but his argument stems forms a manifest ignorance of the psychology of suicide.
Khian is right about the fact that criminal laws primarily exist to discourage criminal behavior, not necessarily to punish. Globally, several laws exist criminalizing conduct that society frowns upon but does not care to punish. A good example is laws against prostitution. In many nations on earth, prostitution is illegal but it still takes place with impunity (Farrel & Cronin, 2015). The laws only exist to limit the vice just as they do for suicides.
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However, Khian is wrong when he considers suicide as a vice or a crime, including comparing it with pornography and even theft. Available research shows that most suicide ideation and attempts emanate from psychological problems (O'Connor & Pirkis, 2016). These problems include stress, depression and substance abuse. People who attempt to commit suicide are thus victims of serious psychological problems and the law should treat them as such, not as villains. Authorities should mitigate on suicides by treating psychological problems, not through criminal laws.
Another wrong argument implied by Khian is that it is in order to have a criminalization in place as wrong as authorities do not implement it. Having a law in place places authority in the hands of officials to elect when to implement the law and on whom to implement it. Whereas criminal laws in themselves may not be discriminatory, they can create propensity for discrimination (Aykanian, 2016). For example, rich people who attempt suicide may get a pass while poor people get prosecuted. It would be better if such a law did not exist at all.
Finally, based on the arguments above, Khian is wrong by casually claiming that section 309 is educative and preventative. From a strictly academic perspective, criminalizing suicide is misleading. Suicide is a psychological and social problem that is primarily not a choice for the victims. Criminalizing it creates the impression that it is indeed a choice, which is misleading (O'Connor & Pirkis, 2016). On the other hand, criminalizing suicide does not prevent it and may even encourage it. Suicidal people do to themselves much worse than a court of law would do to them. It is absurd to argue that a person who is willing to hang himself, blow his head out or drive over a cliff would be afraid of a few months incarceration.
Based on the article synthesis above, it is evident that Khian is generally wrong about the subject of suicide and his error clearly manifests in his article. Khian may be right that criminal laws do not amount to a discrimination per se. However, authorities can use criminal laws to perpetuate discrimination from a social perspective. Conversely, suicide ideation and attempts stem from mental health problems hence they warrant treatment, not prosecution or persecution. Further, the prospect of death itself does not deter suicidal people; hence, the fear of prosecution has little chance of acting as a deterrence. Finally, the argument that suicide is a behavioral choice is wrong; hence, it has no academic value. Khain’s argument is thus full of errors and cannot stand.
References
Aykanian, A., & Lee, W. (2016). Social work’s role in ending the criminalization of homelessness: Opportunities for action. Social work , 61 (2), 183-185.
Farrell, A., & Cronin, S. (2015). Policing prostitution in an era of human trafficking enforcement. Crime, Law and Social Change , 64 (4-5), 211-228.
Khian, H. L. (2018, September 30). Why criminalising suicide is the right way to go. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/why-criminalising-suicide-is-the-right-way-to-go
O'Connor, R. C., & Pirkis, J. (Eds.). (2016). The international handbook of suicide prevention . Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
