In a free society, shouldn’t the decision as to whether a father’s love for his son is worth dieing for lie with the father and not with the government?
In a free society, every individual is free.
Which means that the guy who ran out of a burning house and abandoned his child should feel free to "make it better" by running back into the fire to die with the corpse of the child he left behind.
At the same time, the police officer - who is also a free individual - should feel free to follow his conscience and prevent a lunatic from committing suicide.
If the forgetful stepfather is a free man so is the cop.