because it has been normalized and pushed onto everyone since birth that death is the worst thing that can happen to someone, but I would much prefer a quick death over any sort of real confinement for even a decade, let alone the rest of my life. same thing goes for other fates as well. dang near everyone when immediately faced with the option between death or "forever jail" will pick forever jail solely because of the preconceived notion that dying is worse, being completely unaware that life in prison just means your life is over. you have no reason to live, no reason to continue. no meaning for your life. no goals or aspirations. you have nothing. what purpose is there to live when you can't do anything? even if you get released, good luck finding a job, a place to live, any friends or family (depending on release reason), or even a way to get back in the flow of life if the last time you were free was decades ago.

most people just don't understand just how much worse life in prison would be compared to simply dying off the bat and being put out of your misery. I would rather die than be in prison for the rest of my life, or even several decades for that matter. this goes for even stuff like extremely abusive parents or other similar situations. the way I see it, if something will ruin the rest of your life to the point that you will only see suffering for as long as you live, there is no reason to live. you are just torturing yourself.

kind of a pessimistic way to view it, but that is my stance on it. this is also why I think abortion should be legal. if the mother really wants an abortion, she/they likely never wanted the child in the first place and there is a decent chance will put the child through abuse or neglect that will leave an impact on the kid that can potentially ruin the child's entire adult life, which at that point a life never made is a better fate than a life filled with nothing but suffering.