by Jonathan Imbody
Within five short years, the number of persons killing themselves with lethal prescriptions in Oregon has reportedly doubled. Whether or not that breathtaking increase accounts for all medically induced deaths in the state, we'll never know. Here's why:
Oregon's assisted suicide law actually prevents concerned citizens, the media or watchdog groups from examining individual cases. The law stipulates that “the information collected shall not be a public record and may not be made available for inspection by the public.” With Oregon's healthcare reputation on the line, can we really expect assisted suicide scandals to show up in the state's sterile statistics?
Where assisted suicide and euthanasia have been legalized elsewhere, as in the Netherlands, it has produced a culture of lethal arrogance within the medical profession. Studies reveal that Dutch doctors give lethal injections to over a thousand patients a year with no explicit request to do so from the patients. I have personally interviewed still-grieving family members whose loved ones tragically lost their lives to a runaway medical system sheltered by a euthanasia-entrenched government.
Financial inducements strongly favor ending a terminally ill patient's life prematurely. Don’t expect health insurance companies, state health insurance bureaucrats or unscrupulous heirs to lobby for palliative care when assisted suicide gets right to the bottom line.
The secretive suicide scheme in Oregon poses a dangerous departure from democratic principles and government protection of its most vulnerable citizens. In light of the tragic euthanasia purges of last century, the notion of state-sponsored, medically induced death under a veil of secrecy should be anything but comforting.
Jonathan Imbody is the senior policy analyst for the Christian Medical Association.
(This article courtesy of Steven Ertelt and the Pro-Life Infonet email newsletter. For more information or to subscribe go to www.prolifeinfo.org or email infonet@prolifeinfo.org.)
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