We just got the new issue of the Patients Rights Council newsletter, with an excellent article about the defeat of the 10th attempt to legalize assisted suicide in our state. The Patients Rights Council article contains excerpts from the Burlington Free Press’s April 13 editorial praising the defeat of assisted suicide on the grounds that it changes the doctor/patient relationship in a fundamental way, that essential oversight would be hampered by the withholding of information required to satisfy “privacy” concerns, and that the bill would require us to trust a state government that has proven itself incompetent to police much less consequential matters than the life and death one of assisted suicide. Our favorite point from the editorial: “There is no arguing that each person, of sound mind, should have a strong say in how and when his or her life should end. The equation changes drastically, when you seek outside help to end your life.”
Here are links to both articles:
http://www.patientsrightscouncil.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Update_2012_2_2.pdf
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012120412028