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In 1994, the citizens of Oregon approved a ballot measure that created the Death with Dignity Act which allows a mentally competent adult diagnosed with a terminal illness to request a prescription for a lethal dose of medication from his or her doctor. The highly controversial measure passed with 51.3% of votes cast in favor of passage. With this slim margin, Oregon became the first state in the country to permit physician-assisted suicide . Although physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia may have similar goals, they differ in whether or not the physician participates in the action that ultimately ends life. In physician-assisted suicide, the physician provides the necessary means or information and the patient performs the act. In euthanasia, the physician performs the intervention.
Under the Oregon law, physicians do not physically end the life of a patient; they may provide a prescription for a lethal dose of medication, but the patients themselves must consume the drug in order to end their lives.
Although physician-assisted suicide is by no means a new phenomenon, soon after the passage of Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, the debate about the justifiability and legalization of physician-assisted suicide erupted on the national stage. Proponents argue that mentally competent individuals suffering from debilitating terminal illness should be free to choose the time and manner of their own deaths under specific safeguards. Opponents, meanwhile, cite the absolute sanctity of human life and also express serious concerns about the potential for abuse or error. The debate reached a pinnacle of attention in 1997 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Vacco v. Quill and Washington v. Glucksberg that there is no federal constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide, while simultaneously affirming that state legislatures may choose to legalize it. Currently, physician-assisted suicide is legal in three American states: Oregon (via the Oregon Death with Dignity Act); Washington (via the Washington
Death with Dignity Act); and Montana (through the 2009 trial court ruling in Baxter v. State of Montana).
The American public remains deeply divided on the question of whether to legalize physician-assisted death.
How to Die in Oregon examines the human side of this complex debate and offers a candid glimpse into the experiences of terminally ill patients as they wrestle with the emotional decision of whether to end their own lives.
Additional Resources:
Film Website - http://www.howtodieinoregon.com/index.html
Oregon Health Authority Website, Death with Dignity Act - http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/
Death with Dignity National Center Website, Research Center - http://www.deathwithdignity.org/
American Medical Association, Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs Report - http://www.ama-assn.org/resources/doc/code-medical-ethics/2211b.pdf
EndLink, Resource for End of Life Care Education - http://endoflife.northwestern.edu/eolc_physician_assisted_suicide_debate.cfm