The right to die has been debates heavily these past few decades and progress has been made on many fronts not only in the United States but elsewhere in the world. For example, the Death with Dignity law was passed in 1997 in Oregon. This Act legalizes physician assisted suicide for peoples who are over 18 years of age, have decision making capacity,and are suffering from a terminal illness and has less than 6 months left to live. One must make one written and two oral requests to end his or her life as to imprint upon the patient the seriousness and implications of what they are about to do. If one is thought to be suffering from a mental disorder he or she will be sent t counseling to determine if the illness would impair his or her judgement. The Death with Dignity Act does not allow a doctor to administer a patient with a lethal injection or any other type of mercy killing. It only allows the physician to prescribe medication that would end the patients life.
Although suicide is not a crime anywhere in America, the topic of assisted suicide is a very grey area in the law. There is nothing that directly relates to it. "The decision to commit suicide with the assistance of
another may be just as personal and profound as the decision to refuse unwanted
medical treatment, but it has never enjoyed similar legal protection. Indeed, the two acts are widely and
reasonably regarded as quite distinct" (Glucksburg.) Forty states have made it a crime to "provide another with the means of taking his or her life" (Death with Dignity Report.) In 1999 a survey in Oregon showed that 5% of physicians received a request to prescribe medication with purpose of ending ones life. Another way assisted suicide could affect how death is dealt with in our society is the way hospice care is viewed. In 2003, 89% of the recipients of fatal medication under the Death with Dignity Act were in hospice care at the time of their death.
Unlike in Oregon, the Netherlands has widely acceptable euthanasia policies. The Dutch have put these laws into place by way of the courts and not by use of the legislative system. Because of this the specifications of how the law works were made on a case by case basis. The Dutch criteria for euthanasia are: "(1) the patient must request euthanasia repeatedly and
knowingly, (2) the patient must be experiencing suffering that cannot be
relieved by any means except death, and (3) the doctor must consult with a
second doctor" (Death with Dignity Report.) I believe that the United States should go in the way of the Dutch and not leave decisions like this up to the legislative branches of the states. They should be settled by the courts to give a more standard and judicial meaning.
As shown in the bar graph below, peoples opinion on assisted suicide vary widely depending upon the circumstance.
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