I don't think it is a whim. I really do feel for the guy but I am strongly opposed to suicide no matter what the rationale.
I think it is a sad indictment on our society that within a generation we have moved from suicide being illegal to people campaigning for it as some sort of "right"
I think its sad that you think that is true, lots and lots of cultures haven't had any problem with suicide for millenia. The first people afaik, who campaigned to have it made illegal was...... shock horror, Christians.
It's okay to kill an animal for food, its okay to kill an animal in pain and suffering, but a human must suffer every last ounce of pain possible until their body can no longer go on...... brilliant logic there.
The right to life includes the right to end it whenever they want for whatever reason.
Life is completely and utterly meaningless, for every person who has a happy enjoyable life there is someone going through complete hell each and every day, how on earth anyone can decide that the person going through hell each day has no right to choose to simply not do that is beyond help.
There is no logical argument against suicide for those who want it.
Religion, which used crusades, wars, and millions of death to establish power, which continues to have thousands of murders commited for the cause, that continues to split the world and cause massive hatred, decides life is great and killing is bad....... I really can't believe anyone can buy into religion, and I can't believe anyone can choose to ignore all the bad bits because it suits them.
People who are suffering should be free to choose to end that suffering, or continue it, free choice.
The fact that we got into two completely illegal wars and have killed upwards of 150k people, of which a HUGE number is completely innocent victims, based on nothing, but won't make it legal, safe and painless to end the suffering of those here says so much about the hypocrisy of modern western thinking.
We can kill innocent people living in 3rd world conditions because very few people here will complain about it, but can't make assisted suicide legal because a lot of (mostly religious people) will complain about it.