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Euthanasia & Physician Assisted
Suicide (PAS). All sides to the issue

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Quotations:

	"Whose life is it, anyway?" A plea by the late Sue Rodrigues, a high-profile, terminally-ill resident of British Columbia, Canada, who suffered from ALS. 1 She was helped to commit suicide by a physician in violation of Canadian law in the presence of a Member of Parliament. Neither the doctor nor the MP were prosecuted.
	"We are disappointed at the decision. The president remains fully committed to building a culture of life ... that is built on valuing life at all stages." White House spokesman Scott McClellan, responding to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2006-JAN which found the Oregon physician assisted suicide legislation to be constitutional. 2
	"The right to a good death is a basic human freedom. The Supreme Court's decision to uphold aid in dying allows us to view and act on death as a dignified moral and godly choice for those suffering with terminal illnesses." John Shelby Spong  3

Overview:

Throughout North America, committing suicide or attempting to commit suicide is no longer a criminal offense. However, helping another person commit suicide is generally a criminal act. Three exceptions are the states of:

	Oregon which, since 1997, has allowed people who are terminally ill and in intractable pain to obtain a lethal prescription from their physician and end their chronic suffering. This is called "Physician Assisted Suicide" or PAS.
	Washington whose voters passed Initiative 1000 in 2008-NOV. Supporters call it a "Death with Dignity bill;" opponents call it an "Assisted Suicide" measure.
	Montana where the Montana Supreme Court legalized PAS in a decision handed down on 2009-DEC-31.

There have also been four failed ballot initiatives between 1991 and 2000:

	1991: Washington state: defeated narrowly 54% to 46%
	1992: California: Defeated narrowly 54% to 46%
	1998: Michigan: Defeated overwhelmingly 71% to 29%
	2000: Maine: Defeated very narrowly 51% to 49%.

Between 1994 and 2006, there were 75 legislative bills to legalize PAS in 21 states. All failed. ₄

Attention is currently focused on a bill in the California legislature.

Topics covered in this section:

	Introduction to Euthanasia & PAS: The verbal battle   Ethical aspects   Policies of various faith groups   Public opinion. A novel advertising campaign
	Further information: battles, ethical and religious aspects, public opinion.
	Euthanasia and Terri  Schiavo About living wills
	Does PAS actually increase pain experienced by dying patients?
	Status of euthanasia / PAS in: The U.S.: Oregon law, U.S. Supreme Court decision, California, Montana, Washington, recent events, etc.   Australia   Canada:   The Netherlands (Holland)   The UK: England, Scotland, Wales: 1999 to 2006 2007 to now   Elsewhere in the world
	Links to web sites
	Books

Related essays in this web site:

	Suicide Suicide passages in the Bible Criminalizing information sources about committing suicide Sources of information on suicide methods on the Internet
	The medical management of pain

Full disclosure:

The author of this section is in his early 70's. End of life issues have taken on a personal aspect. Being an Agnostic, he does not fear death or being dead. However, he has considerable fear of the process of dying, which for some people in North America is a very painful and lengthy process. Fortunately for him, he lives in Canada which -- like all other developed countries other than the U.S. -- has universal health care. Unfortunately, pain management is often as crummy in Canada as it is in the U.S. He regards suicide as a civil right and would prefer that he have access to a fatal dose of medication if needed. He thus strongly supports legalizing physician assisted suicide.

However, he has attempted to remain impartial, objective and fair while writing these essays.

You can safely order the following books on assisted suicide from Amazon.com's online bookstore

Also, please consider: Cheryl Kaye Tardif's novel "Whale Song." The book's publisher describes the book as follows:

"Two cultures clash in a world where native tradition and modern law cannot co-exist. How can a young girl deal with the assisted suicide of her own mother? Whale Song is a haunting tale of change and choice."

View an animated book trailer.  Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store

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Reference used:

1. "A Newsletter from the Honourable Sharon Carstairs, Senator For Manitoba," 1995-OCT, at: http://sen.parl.gc.ca/
2. James Vicini, "Court rules govt. can't stop Oregon suicide law," Reuters News Agency, 2005-JAN-17, at: http://today.reuters.com/
3. "Bishop Spong Q&A on Death with dignity," Agoramedia mailing, 2006-JAN-18.
4. Kathi Hamlon, "Failed Attempts to Legalize Euthanasia/Assisted-Suicide in the United States," International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, at: http://www.internationaltaskforce.org/

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Copyright © 1997 to 2010, by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Last updated on 2010-JAN-04
Author: B.A. Robinson

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