Since abortion was legalized in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade case, some feel that the U. S. Supreme Court “gave a nod and a wink to those demanding that family doctors be allowed to kill their patients” (Ramey, 1). In 1997, it refused to hear the Lee v Oregon case, in which the state was against legalizing euthanasia, or physician-assisted suicides, in Oregon that year. The other states were expected to make their own laws regarding euthanasia.
A review of records from Oregon and the Netherlands show that people who are assisted in dying by their physician tend to be more educated and more financially secure than the general population (Vastag, 212). In the Netherlands, “which has a more flexible euthanasia policy, about 2 percent of deaths annually are via self-or-physician-administered lethal narcotics” (Vastag, 212). The review also shows that very few people in Oregon have participated in physician-assisted suicides. Approximately 85% of those patients that died were in hospice care and chose to end their lives with a lethal prescription.
“That number amounts to 0. 15 percent of all deaths in the state” (Vastag, 212). In Oregon, “two doctors must certify that a patient wanting to end his or her life is mentally competent and has less than 6 months to live. A doctor then can write a prescription for a lethal dose of drugs, but can’t administer it” (Vastag, 212). If two doctors need to certify a patient’s decision to die before writing the deadly prescription, this shows that these deaths were planned. Even though the doctors aren’t administering the drugs themselves, they provided them to the patients.
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, also known as “Dr. Death”, has killed over sixty-two people since 1991. He has proudly admitted to at least forty-two deaths Ramey, 3). “Kevorkian has six times been charged with killing or assisting in killing those who have sought relief from pain” (Ramey, 2). His website listed options for standards of euthanasia: being terminally ill, depressed, and in pain was among the choices. In spite of these standards, in actuality, none of his patients were terminally ill (Ramey, 3). He was released from prison on June 1, 2007 after serving more than eight years of a ten to twenty-five-year sentence for the death of a Michigan man.
Kevorkian invented a machine that administered lethal drugs; he would drop off bodies at hospital emergency rooms, coroner’s offices, and even motel rooms. He often met people that wanted his assistance at motels (Associated Press, 1). When he was released, Oregon was still the only state that allowed physician-assisted suicide. Efforts failed in Vermont, California, Hawaii, Wisconsin, Washington state, Michigan, and Maine. Although Kevorkian has not advised or assisted anyone in committing suicide, he believes that physician-assisted suicide should be legalized. He is going to continue to push for more laws allowing it (Associated Press, 1).
Some have argued over the past twenty-five years that those presumed vulnerable, like the elderly, the poor, and the mentally ill, will turn to physician-assisted suicide in record numbers (Vastag, 212). We have seen that this is not the case in Oregon or with Kevorkian. For some opponents of euthanasia, even a few deaths are too many. “The old Christian code of death with dignity, arising out of a life of commitment to God and character molded out of that communion, has been traded in for what can only be described as a mocking imitation of that progression” (Ramey, 2).
In short, the life of a person should be left in God’s hands, not our own. We should not have to inconvenience our family and friends that are still alive.
Works Cited
Associated Press. “Physician-Assisted Suicide Advocate Dr. Jack Kevorkian to Be Released From Prison”. 27 May 2007. <http://www. foxnews. com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,275712,00. html. Ramey, Cathy. “Killing Us Softly. ” Life Advocate, Volume XII, Number 9 (November/December 1997): 1-10. <http://www. lifeadvocate. org/11 97/feature. htm. Vastag, Brian. “No Slippery Slope” Science News, Vol. 172, Issue 14 (06 Oct 2007): 212. <http://web. ebscohost. com