Comments on ASSISTED SUICIDE

Do we have the right to play God? I say Yes, we do. The American public also agrees: "A recent Gallup Poll shows that 58 percent of Americans agree that physicians should be allowed to help patients with incurable illnesses and suffering acute pain to commit suicide" (Halloran 31).

Assisted suicide is in the headlines these days because the Supreme Court is deciding whether Oregon, the only state with a law permitting assisted suicide, is constitutionally able to have such a law. Here is what Oregon's law is all about: "Oregon permits only assisted suicide - the prescribing doctor cannot even be there when the patient takes the lethal potion, usually barbiturates. The patient must be adult, mentally competent, and "terminally ill" - having a life expectancy of six months of less. There is no requirement of "unbearable suffering". Two written requests for assistance must be made, separated by a 15-day interval" (Anon 59).

Here is how the case is proceeding in the Supreme Court: "The justices said in 1997 that there's no constitutional right to end one's own life, but they left the door open for states to experiment with different approaches to end-of-life 
questions" (Henderson 3). And there are medical experts who agree. "Results of a new national survey of 677 physicians… revealed that the majority… believe that physicians should be permitted to dispense life-ending prescriptions to terminally ill patients who have made a rational decision to die due to unbearable suffering…Although the high percentage of physicians who support the ability to prescribe such medications may be somewhat surprising, I believe it is the result of physicians' personal relationships with their patients and the desire to act in the best interest of each patient"
(Anon 1).