Oregon Death Dignity Act Enacted

Oregon Death Dignity Act

Enacted in 1997, the Oregon Death with Dignity Act "allows terminally-ill Oregonians to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose," (State of Oregon). The Act offers a compromise in the ongoing debate over the ethics of euthanasia. By requiring a physician to prescribe "for that purpose" a lethal drug, the Oregon Death with Dignity Act prevents hasty self-annihilation. A physician-assisted suicide is ostensibly grounded in scientific opinion regarding the patient's state of mind and prognosis vis-a-vis a terminal illness. In other words, a doctor can act with authority based on his or her experience and knowledge about the patient, the disease, and the patient's ability to make cogent decisions. At the same time, the Death with Dignity Act prevents unnecessary lawsuits against compassionate doctors who would otherwise be acting against the law when prescribing lethal medications to help their patients die with dignity. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act serves several key objectives including protecting doctor, patient, and the health care institution.

Moreover, the Oregon Death with Dignity Act prevents unnecessary suffering by permitting qualified patients to avail themselves of a physician-assisted suicide. To die with dignity is the hope of any terminally ill patient and the 1997 Act preserves this essential right. What the physician must take into account when approving the lethal medication is more than just the patient's state of mind and medical condition. The patient's family can and should be taken into consideration. Any patient whose family strongly and vocally opposes the physician-assisted suicide might have a more difficult time convincing a physician that the choice to euthanize is the right one.