Physician Assisted Suicide

Since the 1980s, the question of whether physician assisted suicide should be permitted for persons with terminal illnesses has been the subject of much debate and continues to be a very controversial topic to this day. By definition, as stated in The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, physician assisted suicide is, “Suicide by a patient facilitated by means (as a drug prescription) or by information (as an indication of a lethal dosage) provided by a physician aware of the patient's intent.” “Under current law (in almost all 50 states), a physician who assists in a patient’s suicide could be charged with aiding and abetting suicide. Opponents of physician assisted suicide argue that decriminalizing would lead to a “slippery slope” that would

Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act became law in 1994 and as stated in Gale Encyclopedia, “A physician(s) may not be forced to participate in the Death with Dignity Act. A person who sought to employ the law needed to show that the patient must be at least 18 years of age, the patient must be suffering from a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less, the patient must make two oral requests for assistance in dying, the patient must make one written request for assistance, two physicians must be convinced that the patient is sincere, not acting on a whim, and that the decision is voluntary, the patient must not be influenced by depression, the patient must be informed of “feasible alternatives” such as hospice care and pain control, the patient must wait 15 days between the verbal requests.” In following these strict guidelines set forth in Orgeon’s Death with Dignity Act, it gives clear parameters that the physician needs to follow, as well as steps the patient needs to take in order to fulfill this act. In giving the 15-day waiting period in between the verbal requests, it gives time for the patient to either proceed with this request or back out, if

Capone) After 169 years of opposition to physician assisted suicide, the AMA is considering a change in its position. Following its annual meeting in June of 2016, the AMA House of Delegates recommended that the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs study aid in dying as an end-of-life option and report back at the annual meeting in 2017. The June resolution recommends that, “The AMA assume a neutral stance on physician participation in this act of killing, thus ending its opposition to an act that is directly opposed to the traditional role of physicians and to the heritage of Western medicine” (Ralph A Capone). The AMA has changed their stance after 169 years of opposition to physician assisted suicide to a neutral stance; this is encouraging news for patient assisted suicide proponents.