Many people believe specific individual acts of freedom shouldn’t have any legal inhibitions.
Suicide and assisted suicide are two of these personal acts some people feel should not be controlled by governmental laws. However, the act of assisted suicide most definitely is becoming accepted even though the law only protects people over 18 years old who are Oregon residents.
According to http:// www.oregon.gov, Oregon passed the Death with Dignity Act in 1997. The Act “permits physicians to write prescriptions for a lethal dosage of medication to people with a terminal illness.” This law has caused quite a stir throughout the media and society in general.
There are many moral and ethical issues dealing with the Death with Dignity Act. But is assisted suicide murder? Should a physician be allowed to take a patient’s life, even with permission?
Other states like California and Vermont are strongly considering and pushing toward voting on physician-assisted suicide this year (http://www.libertypost.org).
What will this mean for the rest of America? Is murder becoming okay under certain pretenses? Murder is murder and there is no way around it.
The government says euthanasia and assisted suicide are different. But they are not.
There is no difference, even though in assisted suicide the doctor doesn’t physically inject the medicine into the patient. Regardless, the doctor’s intent is still the same.
The entire issue is centered around the personal rights and privacy of American citizens.
Should a doctor be able to kill someone even with the patients consent? In Oregon it is a personal choice and slowly but surely it may become a personal choice in other states.
Only time will tell.
Nyerere Davidson for the editorial board.