Would a law allowing assisted suicide but not euthanasia avoid abuse?
Supporters of the Bill claim that it would avoid the Dutch ‘slippery slope’ because it would allow only assisted suicide. They point to the US state of Oregon, in which assisted suicide has been legal since 1997, as an ‘abuse free’ example we should follow. But: • The evidence from Oregon does not show Oregon to be abuse-free. The Oregon health department relies on self-reporting by the very doctors who have practised assisted suicide. These reports are filed, but not investigated independently by the authorities. • The few cases which have been made public have often raised serious questions, such as whether the patient was pressured or clinically depressed. • Legalising assisted suicide for the terminally ill is a stepping-stone to legalising euthanasia and in both cases the intention is the same. If patients have a right to ask for a lethal prescription, why not for a lethal injection (particularly if they are physically unable to take the drugs or, having taken them, are suffering
