Is suicide ever morally permissible? 1. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the soldier who falls on a live grenade to save the life of his friend? 2. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the destitute mother who stops eating what little food remains in order that her child may live? 3. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the POW who swallows a cyanide capsule, knowing that otherwise he will be brainwashed and tortured into divulging crucial information that will be used to the detriment and perhaps death of his countrymen? 4. What moral judgment do we make in the case of the husband with a lengthy terminal illness who takes his own life lest his medical expenses drain the meager financial resources on which his aged wife must depend for her future welfare? 5. What moral judgment do we make…of a soldier trapped in a burning tank from which there is no hope of escape. Is it morally permissible for him to end his life with a gunshot to the head rather than to die in agony in that fiery inferno? 6. What about the Christian in the third century who is given a choice: either deny Jesus or be thrown to the lions? By refusing to deny Jesus, the believer chooses a course of action that she knows will result in her death. 7. What about the Jehovah’s Witness who is accidentally shot by a robber and, because of religious convictions, refuses the blood transfusion necessary to save her life? She dies because of a deliberate choice on her part.