TAW122
Emissary of the right to die.
- Aug 30, 2018
- 7,478
One of the very common and cheap arguments that many pro-lifers or just in general, anti-choice and preventionist love to use is how a person's decision (especially that is done in an emotional state and not that of a rational mind, or sound mind). It is not only really belittling and insulting, it really undermines said person's agency and that pretext is really unjustified. There are many major decisions that all humans make in their lives, some of which have permanent and/or long lasting consequences, yet many of the same people don't have the same level of scrutiny for those as they have for that of CTB'ing.
For example, imagine someone being in an toxic relationship, of course the person (or both of them even) are going to be upset and feel emotions, but that does NOT imply nor mean that said person lacks the capacity to leave a toxic relationship. The same thing could go for many other life decisions, and to even a lesser degree; such as having a tattoo (it is more or less, permanent – barring the fact that while yes, IT IS possible to remove it but has long lasting consequences and hurts more than getting it, but I digress…). There are other examples too, but most people don't use nor insinuate that said person's decision is wrong, try to interfere or impinge (or conspire to do such), or even gaslight people who do so. Instead, they rejoice and praise the person for being 'brave' to leave a bad situation.
However, when it comes to CTB or so, even for those with chronic and nearly permanent conditions, they would gaslight those people that their decisions are irrational and not of sound mind. More egregiously, they would lump those with chronic and lifelong conditions the same as those who are acutely suicidal which is a insult towards the people who have legitimate reasons for checking out. As a side point, while some pro-lifers and preventionists, make an exception for the 'terminally ill', it's hypocritical because they would want to deny that towards people who aren't terminally ill, but suffer permanent and chronic conditions that will follow said person's life indefinitely (until the person dies from natural causes or other non-CTB related cause).
This isn't something new nor surprising to the SaSu community in general, but it is quite infuriating and frustrating to see how impulsivity and emotions are used as pretexts for denying people agency, gaslighting them, and ignoring the real reasons of why a person may want to CTB. Even if said reasons are acknowledged, they are quickly glossed over, and said pro-lifers, anti-choicers, preventionists alike would just focus on preventing CTB, regardless of the outcome and whether or not the situation was better or exacerbated. Thus, my argument and vent for this thread is pointing out and highlighting the fact that one's emotions and perhaps even impulsive action does not indicate that they are unsound of mind, contrary to what many people may believe.
For example, imagine someone being in an toxic relationship, of course the person (or both of them even) are going to be upset and feel emotions, but that does NOT imply nor mean that said person lacks the capacity to leave a toxic relationship. The same thing could go for many other life decisions, and to even a lesser degree; such as having a tattoo (it is more or less, permanent – barring the fact that while yes, IT IS possible to remove it but has long lasting consequences and hurts more than getting it, but I digress…). There are other examples too, but most people don't use nor insinuate that said person's decision is wrong, try to interfere or impinge (or conspire to do such), or even gaslight people who do so. Instead, they rejoice and praise the person for being 'brave' to leave a bad situation.
However, when it comes to CTB or so, even for those with chronic and nearly permanent conditions, they would gaslight those people that their decisions are irrational and not of sound mind. More egregiously, they would lump those with chronic and lifelong conditions the same as those who are acutely suicidal which is a insult towards the people who have legitimate reasons for checking out. As a side point, while some pro-lifers and preventionists, make an exception for the 'terminally ill', it's hypocritical because they would want to deny that towards people who aren't terminally ill, but suffer permanent and chronic conditions that will follow said person's life indefinitely (until the person dies from natural causes or other non-CTB related cause).
This isn't something new nor surprising to the SaSu community in general, but it is quite infuriating and frustrating to see how impulsivity and emotions are used as pretexts for denying people agency, gaslighting them, and ignoring the real reasons of why a person may want to CTB. Even if said reasons are acknowledged, they are quickly glossed over, and said pro-lifers, anti-choicers, preventionists alike would just focus on preventing CTB, regardless of the outcome and whether or not the situation was better or exacerbated. Thus, my argument and vent for this thread is pointing out and highlighting the fact that one's emotions and perhaps even impulsive action does not indicate that they are unsound of mind, contrary to what many people may believe.
