| NOTE: This guide was last updated on January 13, 2004. It was created for a former staff member and is no longer being maintained. |
There are many vantage points from which to consider doctor-assisted suicide. Any serious consideration of the topic physician-assisted suicide inevitably draws from ethics and medical ethics, law, medical practices, philosophy, psychology, public policy, and religion as one explores questions surrounding the central issue of the right to die. The selections gathered here provide varied points of view (pro and con), some history as well as currency in coverage, and include electronic as well as print sources. The focus of these Web pages is upon the United States although there is often mention of major events elsewhere, for example, on April 10, 2001 the Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia and physician assisted suicide albeit within strict medical guidelines with Belgium following suit on May 16, 2002. While there is necessarily a selectivity given the present volume of information, sources presented here are among, we hope, the best and most informative available.
On October 27, 1997 doctor-assisted suicide became a legal medical option for terminally ill Oregon residents.
When Death Is Sought: Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the Medical Context early in the last decade provided one of the most comprehensive and systematic analyses of the issues to date.
At present (July 2003) only the state of Oregon has a statute permitting doctor-assisted/physician-assisted suicide (DAS/PAS) and then only within very narrowly prescribed circumstances, i.e., for a terminally ill patient. In the November 1998 elections, voters in Michigan defeated a ballot measure to legalize doctor-assisted suicide. Earlier in the last decade, voters in California and Washington state defeated similar ballot measures. A bill similar to Oregon's PAS law died in the Maine Legislature's Judiciary Committee in February 2000 and the issue before Maine voters as a referendum in the November 2000 election was narrowly defeated by some 51% of those voting [yeas 315,031; nays 332,280]. Such legislative measures although often introduced often die within committee hearings and seldom reach the floor of the full legislative body. An example of such proposed legislation is California AB1592 THE DEATH WITH DIGNITY ACT, proposed early in 1999-- presented here in an analysis form. Permissive DAS legislation is overshadowed by measures prohibiting DAS under penalty of law. During the 2002 legislative session in Hawaii, several legislative observers believed that proceedings might finally yield enabling legislation either a bill to legalize DAS or a ballot initiative for voters--both, however, failed.
In the remainder of the states outside Oregon, DAS/PAS is subsumed under assisted suicide. Thirty-nine states have a statute prohibiting assisted suicide. Six states Alabama, Idaho, Massachusetts, Nevada, Vermont, and West Virginia prohibit assisted suicide through application of common law. In spring 1999, Maryland was the latest state by statute to outlaw assisted suicide. Four states North Carolina, Ohio, Utah, and Wyoming have neither a statute nor common law which prohibits assisted suicide.
Professor Vollmar, Willamette University College of Law, has prepared a lengthy summary of recent developments in litigation and legislation on physician assisted suicide.
If the Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999, passed by the House, received in the Senate on November 19, 1999 and referred to the Committee on Judiciary, becomes the law of the land, the legal and political landscape surrounding doctor assisted suicide will once again be markedly altered. See the The Oregonian for a further analysis of the proposed legislation with projected outcome of Senate vote.
On November 6, 2001 [for a chronology of events], U.S. Attorney General Ashcroft blocked Oregon's assisted-suicide law authorizing federal drug agents to punish doctors who prescribe federally controlled drugs to help terminally ill patients die. The action was suspended two days later by a temporary restraining order pending a hearing on a permanent injunction to be heard within 10 days. That restraining order was extended on November 20 for five months at which time arguments will be heard. See related amicus briefs for and against the Attorney General's action. However, on April 17, 2002 a federal judge U.S. District Judge Robert Jones ruled that the U.S. Justice Department lacks the authority to overturn an Oregon law allowing physician-assisted suicides. However, on September 23, 2002, the Justice Department asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down Oregon's assisted-suicide law as counter to a U.S. drug law, the Controlled Substances Act.
For a specialized search engine with an extensive database of reviewed resources for end of life issues--
To find other materials, search the WEB using key words and phrases such as--
assisted suicide, euthanasia, right to die
The outcome of the November 1997 Oregon referendum retaining the legality of doctor-assisted suicide in Oregon, the June 26th 1997 decisions of the Supreme Court, the arguments before the Court in January of 1997, and the earlier Circuit Court decisions affirming the legality of doctor-assisted suicide in two United States Circuit Court Districts have further rekindled widespread discussions on the "right to die" and "doctor-assisted suicide." Many such discussions began in earnest with the cases of Karen Anne Quinlan and Nancy Cruzan. Some of these discussions have been refocused by the actions of Dr. Jack Kevorkian including his March 1999 conviction on charges of second degree murder growing out of the death of Thomas Youk. Although a majority of the U.S. population appears to support PAS, legislation and referenda enabling PAS among states greatly trails public opinion. With the further graying of our country's population, no doubt, these discussions will intrude into more and more facets of our lives.
