Physician Assisted Suicide

Assisted suicide is a concept growing in popularity among many segments of the American population. Terminally ill patients are seeking the right to end their lives with dignity, without pain, and before all of their resources are drained from care that will not improve their quality of life. Dr. Jack Kevorkian is perhaps the nationÆs biggest advocate of assisted-suicide, being charged with first-degree murder after euthanizing Thomas Youk, a victim of Lou GehrigÆs disease, a euthanizing that was aired on 60 Minutes (Sullivan 1998, 003). People

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pting over whether states or the federal government should have authority over such legislation. One factor that gives the US government more power than the states on this issue is law governing drug administration, ôFederal law trumps state law in the administration of drugs under the Controlled Substances Act, which governs powerful prescription drugs like morphine that alleviate pain, but which can killö (Fields 2001, A19). President Bush and his father have long opposed physician assisted suicide. However, before passing the law in Oregon, Oregonian officials solicited the support of former Attorney General Janet Reno who promised she would not prosecute if the law passed. Attorney Ashcroft has made no such promises. One irony of the Oregon law is that the Washington State Medical Association and the Oregon Medical Association have joined forces to oppose AshcroftÆs ruling in regard to the law. Physicians are worried that AshcroftÆs ruling will expose then to unwarranted investigations if they prescribe aggressive pain medication. Further, physicians say the law allows them to provide better care to patients. As one physician notes, ôA lot of the criticism that it would be overused or lead to widespread euthanasia has
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1502
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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