America's Growing Cult of Death

With little fanfare, two more states legalized physician assisted suicide late last year. Colorado and the District of Columbia joined Oregon, Washington, Montana, California and Vermont on the list of jurisdictions that allow individuals to end their lives by lethal means.

These seven states are at the forefront of an propaganda campaign to remove the stigma from the polarizing issue of physician assisted suicide.  Proponents have adopted new language, preaching dying with dignity and relief from chronic suffering as socially acceptable reasons to terminate life.

The advocates know that are gradually winning what once was an uphill political battle.  The latest Pew Research polling shows that Americans are almost evenly split on the issue.  The data reveals 47 percent of Americans favor physician assisted suicide, while 49 percent oppose the idea.

Any discussion of the issue requires a definition of terms. Most states allow individuals to sign a "Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)," order which makes it legal to suspend cardiopulmonary resuscitation. In some circumstances, patients may consent to unhooking feeding tubes or respirators.

The measures cited above are generally accepted by most Americans and physicians.  However, active euthanasia means deliberately ending a patient's life, usually by administering toxic drugs. In many cases, the doctor prescribes the drug and the patient ingests it without a physician present.

The American Medical Association, despite media reports to the contrary, continues to strongly oppose physician assisted suicide and euthanasia.  Their disapproval has been seconded by the American Academy of Medical Ethics.  Physicians are dedicated to saving lives, not killing.

Oregon become the first state to enact legislation on physician assisted suicide in 1997.  Their experience serves as a cautionary tale of the ethical slippery slope.  Each year the number of patients given lethal doses of medication has increased, quadrupling since 1997.

The most common reasons patients cited for their end-of-life decision was loss of autonomy, and the decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable, according to data.   Most patients who elect to die have no prescribing physician present when they ingest the drug.

Worldwide, more countries are joining the euthanasia bandwagon.  One of the pioneers is the Netherlands, which authorized medical euthanasia in 2002.  Since its inauguration, the number of physician assisted suicides has risen five-fold. In 2015, there were 5,500 people terminated.

Over the years the Dutch have radically extended the death regime to allow people with "social isolation or loneliness" to end their lives with the assistance of a physician.  A recent case caused an international furor when a 41-year-old alcoholic was euthanized to escape his drinking problem.

To facilitate the increasing demand in the Netherlands, the Dutch have authorized mobile euthanasia units to roam the streets on call in the event a family doctor refuses to give a lethal drug dose to a patient. Increasingly, people are choosing to die without an explicit end of life request.

Some Dutch are reportedly carrying cards in their purses and wallets that say, "Do Not Euthanize Me," in case they are in an accident or taken to a hospital in a state of unconsciousness. It is a grisly reminder of what can happen once your give doctors the right to kill another human being.

Before physician assisted suicide becomes another "right" sanctioned by the American judicial system, the country needs to have a thorough airing of the dangers of allowing the practice. States with euthanasia laws have lax reporting standards, making it difficult to find factual data.

Whatever your views on euthanasia, more data and statistics are needed to address legitimate moral and ethical questions.  Until all the facts are known about current state experiences with physician assisted suicide, Americans would be best served to remain skeptical about the practice.