New Effort to Legalize Doctor-Prescribed Suicide in Mass.

[Mark]

New Effort to Legalize Doctor-Prescribed Suicide in Mass.

I know with certainty, though, that death has been on my mind because of an effort under way in Massachusetts to make it legal for doctors to prescribe lethal doses of drugs for the purpose of ending their patients’ lives.

The patient, of course, will have to voluntarily ingest the fistful of pills it will take to kill him. A patient can do that now, if he can get his hands on any of the myriad substances which, in sufficient quantity, will kill a human being. But what this ballot initiative proposes is that doctors—and we as a society—should affirm that course of action.

Tens of thousands of Americans commit suicide every year. Nowhere in the U.S. is it a crime to do so. It is an unfortunate fact that some people determine that their lives are no longer worth living. But we see it as a tragedy; this is why high bridges often have signs encouraging troubled individuals to seek help rather than jump. Suicide hotlines are open 24 hours a day because we hope to prevent as many suicides as possible.

This consistent cultural message is contradicted when we give doctors the right to prescribe lethal drugs as a medical treatment. It is like replacing the suicide intervention signs on bridges and railroad tracks with signs that say, “Ask your physician if jumping is right for you.” Of course, one of the arguments in favor of legalizing doctor-prescribed suicide is that ingestion of a very large quantity of pills is much cleaner and easier to manage than throwing oneself in front of a speeding train (although we might ask Derek Humphry how clean it was when, as he was “assisting” his first wife’s suicide, he eventually had to smother her with a pillow to achieve the desired result). But from the perspective of what we value as a society, the two are equivalent.

If the Massachusetts ballot initiative passes, only individuals who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness that will result in death within 6 months will be eligible for a lethal prescription. Yet everyone knows that a 6-month prognosis is a guess. Anyone who is seriously ill or seriously old will be able to obtain a suicide prescription. Some insurance companies will refuse to cover treatment while offering to cover “death with dignity,” as has been documented in Oregon. And with no protections for those who are no longer fully cognizant of what is happening around them, there is ample room for abuse of the elderly.

But put these difficulties aside. What of the individual who, with a clear mind and a truly terminal illness, says, “I prefer to die”? Do we want to validate that choice?

full article: http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2012/09/6183

[Mark]

Death With Dignity: Doctor-Prescribed Suicide For Terminally Ill May Soon Be A Way To Die In Massachusetts

Massachusetts residents will contemplate those questions in November, when the Bay State will become the third in the nation to consider a ballot initiative that would allow terminally ill people to end their lives through the self-administration of medications prescribed for that purpose.

Supporters of the state's Death with Dignity Act say that it cannot truly be described as physician-assisted suicide because those drugs, under the law, cannot be administered by anyone aside from the patient for whom they are prescribed. But others allege it could seriously endanger the lives of elderly, disabled and poor people with fatal conditions, who opponents fear could be pressured by family or heirs to choose death over further medical care as a cost-control measure.

rest: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/379613/20120831/massachusetts-death-dignity-ballot-initiaitve-2012.htm

[Mark]

Should Massachusetts Allow Assisted Suicide?
It's one question voters will weigh in November.

Should terminally ill patients be allowed to be given a lethal drugs at their request?

That is one question Massachusetts voters will be expected to consider when the hit the voting booth in November. The initiative, called "Death with Dignity," received enough signatures to be placed on the ballot in November, according to the state's attorney general.

The proposal in Massachusetts would allow individuals who have been diagnosed with an illness that will cause death within six months to obtain medication to self-administer to end their life.

If passed, Massachusetts would join Oregon, Washington and Montana as the only states that allow assisted suicide.

http://northandover.patch.com/articles/tell-us-should-massachusetts-allow-assisted-suicide