Death with Dignity: The Oregon Experience
Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, passed into law via a voter referendum in 1997, legalized physician-assisted suicide in cases in which an individual diagnosed as terminally ill seeks assistance in terminating his or her life (Kitchen, 2005). Since its inception, the Oregon statute has been highly controversial, with debate continuing in public forums and in the courts as to the legitimacy and constitutionality of such a law. This brief essay will first identify the specific provisions of the Oregon statute, and then consider the opposing points of view as to its moral and ethical implications as well as the possible long-term effects on the U.S. health care system.
Death with Dignity Organization (2006, p.1) described the Oregon legislation as follows:
In the early-1990s, concernedácitizens formed Oregon Death with Dignityáto writeáand pass a lawáthat would allowádying patients to control their own end-of-life care. In 1994,áOregonians voted to supportáMeasure 16á-- the Oregon Death with Dignity Act.
In partnership withásupporters andáthe Death with Dignity National Center in Washington, DC, Oregon Death with Dignityásuccessfully defendedáthe law againstánumerousálegal and politicaláattacks --includingáMeasure 51 in 1997, two congressional efforts to nullifyáthe law and legal battles in the federal courts.
The Oregon Statutes (Oregon Department of Human Services, 2005) on physician-assisted suicide (PAS) require at a minimum that the individual requesting such assistance be an adult (over age 18), be diagnosed as terminally ill and with less than six months to live, capable of making such a request as understood in a legal sense with respect to mental competence, and that counseling be provided by qualified caregivers before such a request is granted. The states include multiple safeguards to prevent abuse of the right to death with dignity, to oversee th...