I've seen this photo many times and have always wondered about the fate of the person in the picture considering how dangerous the elephant's foot is always said to be. It's good to hear that he's still alive and sounds healthy.
Good is not the enemy of perfect. There are cases where disposable plates are more or less required. Food trucks/carts for example. One I frequent recently moved to using compostable plates.
Suicide is not some inevitable, uncontrollable end to any disease or illness. It isn't cancer, or some other form of terminal illness. It is an active choice made by those who want to end their own life.
If suicide and prescription drugs are synonymous as they both result in the literal and figurative death of the ill person, would it not be better to choose the 'death' the allows the person to continue to live?
It is nihilistic if you, and your coworker, believe that past a certain age threshold (or any other arbitrary measure) a disease/mental condition is untreatable and the best alternative is suicide.
In your first comment, "Some fail and end up in worse states emotionally & financially." which I responded to with my what-if, which was "But what about those who have failed their suicide attempt and eventually end up in a good place and live a happy, normal rest of their life?"
"I know for a fact the belief of everyone should continue living because the "what if game of it may get better" is irrational." What part of believing in a better future is irrational? Or more irrational than someone wanting to end their own life? We can end the conversation if it continues to a nihilistic viewpoint where death is the only true solution to things.
Your co-worker/friend's situation is unfortunate. I lived 3 years with someone who longed for death for nearly their entire adult life. In that time they believed they were acting rationally, that things would not get better and that they were irreparably broken; the only solution to them was death. They had been through numerous psychiatrists and eventually ended up at one who was able to properly diagnose them as having a form of bipolar disorder. They received prescription treatment and the longing for death ended.
I understand there are extreme differences in gender dysphoria and bipolar disorder, but just because their current state, or the current system is unable to help her, doesn't mean death is the correct answer. We should focus on improving mental healthcare rather than opening up the choice of death to those we're currently unable to provide help for.
I only mentioned a what-if example in response to your what-if example in your first comment.
Medical-assisted suicide systems are already in place in numerous countries for terminally ill patients. Are you suggesting these systems be implemented for anyone?
Your mention of free will suggests that these systems should be in place for all people and to be done promptly without question as anything that impedes this, (eg, physical or psychological examinations, waiting periods, etc.) would also be going against free will. I don't think a person requires easy access to death in order for free will to exist. People are irrational beings, especially so when considering taking their own life; allowing these people to make severe decisions in extreme irrational states, is well, irrational in itself.
I don't think a low barrier to entry is a good idea for something as serious as medical-assisted suicide. Being in mental or physical pain, outside of absolute terminal illness, and being able to choose death for something that may very well be a temporary problem is not a good solution. You mention people who turn to self-inflicted suicide, who fail and end up in worse states emotionally/financially. But what about those who have failed their suicide attempt and eventually end up in a good place and live a happy, normal rest of their life? Had they been given the option of medical-assisted suicide, they would have never have gotten the chance to experience that.