The watertight Oregon model for assisted suicide is a leaky boat

Feb 2, 2018 by Jill

by Fabian Stahle, MercatorNet:

There is currently a discussion about medically assisted death here in Sweden. Advocates consider it a necessary right for certain patients whose palliative care does not help to relieve symptoms—a last resort for extreme cases. The idea presented to the public in opinion polls is that it should only apply to people with incurable diseases, those who have nothing else to look forward to but imminent death.

The Swedish advocates recommend a law modelled on Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act (DWDA). They have explained to us Swedes that the Oregon practices are protected by strict safeguards which only allow people with an incurable and irreversible illness that will, within reasonable medical judgment, result in death within six months.

They assure us that it is a robust, well-proven and well-researched system that does not show any vulnerability to the development of a slippery slope. This is also the message that has been promulgated in Sweden by the Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics.

In a recently published report, “Assisted Death: A Knowledge Compilation,” the Council notes that Oregon’s regulations have remained unchanged since the law was introduced. This, they argue, “negates the assumption that a slippery slope will occur, in the sense that expansion of the regulations for eligibility to more and more patients would be inevitable if death aid is allowed.”

As a basis for their reassurance of no slippery slope in the Oregon model, the authors of the Swedish report note that there is one question that is “the crucial issue“: is anyone with a non-terminal, chronic disease granted medical assisted death? The report authors satisfy themselves and their readers:

Read here

Read also: Canadian court tells doctors they must refer for euthanasia by Michael Cook

Canadian hospices are being bullied into hosting euthanasia by Will Johnston