January 15th / 17th, 2010
"Another State Allows Physician Assisted Suicide"
No one knows exactly how many people take their own lives each year, but
some estimates put the number at over one million worldwide. We also have no
idea how many people in the last stages of a terminal illness would like
to avail themselves of physician assisted suicide if it were legal, but my
guess is that nearly all of them would.
As of last month, there are now three states where such merciful
euthanasia can be performed. Montana is the latest to join the fold which includes
Oregon and Washington. The former made physician assisted suicide legal back
in 1994, while the latter came on board in November of 2008.
Montana's Supreme Court ruled last month that nothing in state law
prevents patients from seeking professional assistance to die. That opens the door
for doctors to prescribe drugs to "mentally competent" patients without
fear of prosecution. The ruling came as a result of a suit brought by Robert
Baxter who had been diagnosed with leukemia, and fought for the right to
seek help in dying. But the Court's decision came too late to help Baxter. He
died on the very day that Judge Dorothy McCarter issued her decision.
Despite this moral and legal victory, it should be noted that opponents of
physician assisted suicide, as well as church affiliated healthcare facilities
were placated by the ruling, which included an opt-out provision for
hospitals who did not wish to participate.
I'd like to think that the Montana case will open the floodgates for
reform, but that is unlikely, at least not right now. In all, 33 states still
consider physician assisted suicide a criminal act, including Georgia, where
police recently arrested four members of the Final Exit Network.
Authorities claimed that the FEN had facilitated over 200 suicides by providing exit
guides to terminally ill patients. The guide described how someone can
suffocate himself by using a plastic hood and a helium tank. Here in North
Carolina (as well as in Utah and Wyoming) there is no specific state statute
which criminalizes assisted suicide, but no doctor is rushing to test the
boundaries. In fact no other states seem to be in a hurry to follow Montana's
lead.
It is ironic that many who oppose decriminalizing physician assisted
suicide are themselves anti-big government, and should be supportive of reform.
As Baxter attorney Kathryn Tucker stated, "The Montana Supreme Court has
determined that this is a choice that state law entrusts to Montana patients,
not to the government".
Sadly I can't help but think about the countless thousands of terminally
ill people who have been limited in their choice of exit strategies.
Fortunately there are Hospice programs available where patients can die with quiet
dignity, and for that I am grateful. But America will never be truly
civilized until every citizen has the right to actively participate in his own
passing. In the meantime, kudos to the Big Sky state for seeing the big
picture. Now it's up to the rest of us to share their vision.
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