Where has assisted dying been made lawful in the world recently?
A. In only one place: The American state of Oregon, where its citizens in November l994 voted for Ballot Measure 16 which permits physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill under limited conditions. Despite opponents’ attempts to block it in the courts, and a ballot initiative in l997 trying to repeal the law, The Death with Dignity Act withstood all challenges and became effective in October l997. During the five years the Oregon law has been operating, a total of 129 patients have used it to end their lives — about one in 1,000 of the state’s death rate. • Q. What about the Netherlands, which is famous for its liberal attitudes? And the Belgians? A. Voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide were permitted by the Dutch for some 20 years before it was actually made legal, under strict guidelines, by the Dutch Parliament in 2002. Later the same year the Belgian Parliament approved a similar law. For a complete round-up of the world’s laws go to www.assistedsuicide.org Return to
A. In November 1994 the citizens of the state of Oregon voted for Ballot Measure 16 which permits physician-assisted suicide (PAS) for the terminally ill under limited conditions. Despite opponents’ attempts to block it in the courts, and a 1997 ballot initiative attempting to repeal the law, “The Death with Dignity Act” has withstood all challenges and became effective in October 1997. Voters in Washington state approved a similar PAS law in 2008. Montanas Supreme Court in 2009 ruled that PAS did not infringe its constitution.
