Oregon assisted- suicide model too good to be true

It is being sold to us as a perfect system with full controls, no abuse of patient rights have taken place in the 20 years since the introduction of assisted suicide, however not all is as good as has been portrayed.

There has been a profound shift in attitude towards terminally ill patients in Oregon.

Oregon’s assisted suicide ‘safeguards’ are not being followed.

There are failed assisted suicides in Oregon.

There is secrecy regarding what is happening in Oregon.

There is no real monitoring of Oregon’s assisted suicides.

The Oregon Medical Association is opposed to Oregon’s assisted-suicide law and Oregon’s doctors are even more opposed to euthanasia.

Palliative care services are poor and patients are increasingly dying in pain unnecessarily.

Assisted suicide is being used for psychological and social concerns. There is no instance in Oregon of assisted suicide being used for actual untreatable pain, many cases are motivated by the desire not to become a burden to family and friends.

Some Oregonians who have received the prescriptions for lethal medication have lived far longer than six months, some for more than two years. It is meant to apply only to those with six months or less to live (terminally ill) but the evidence from Oregon shows that determining that a person has less than six months to live is fraught with error.

Our deputies must be very careful what they vote for and question what they are being told. When something seems too good to be true it usually is.

TONY MEADOWCROFT

ant.meadowcroft@gmail.com