The wording under the Oregon law allowing physician assisted suicide has been rephrased by the Oregon DHS. They have removed the word suicide and now refer to people choosing physician assisted suicide as those choosing to use the Oregon Death with Dignity Act....
Many in the disabled community (Not Dead Yet, e.g.) now are concerned that this creates an opening to encourage people with disabilities to choose this avenue in light of high medical costs and difficulty obtaining resources to live in the community.
Compassion & Choices writes:
"Eliminating the emotionally-laden and inaccurate word “suicide” from state references to the DWDA is a major leap forward in clarifying the public’s perception of the distinction between suicide and a terminally ill patient’s choice for a peaceful and dignified death. "
Yours truly believes this is yet another way to use semantics to denigrate the sanctity of life in those most marginalized.
Many of us feel that if we had to live in a Nursing home we would rather die...so that's not suicide? .... (let's eliminate that emotionally-laden and inaccurate word) we would just be choosing the Death with Dignity Act.
We're increasing access to choosing death.
I want to see a Life with Dignity Act. To me that's compassion and true choice.
2 comments:
There was a front page article in the Birmingham News about there being 1600 severely disabled and mentally handicapped people on a waiting list for Medicaid services that simply weren't available. When alternatives for care are not provided as promised, people begin to consider desperate measures.
The large picture on the story showed a young mother trying to feed her severely disabled 21 year old daughter, who was graduating from our county's public school's special services program, with nowhere to go afterwards for any care. A young woman, pregnant with a "deformed" baby would read that and consider options, such as euthanasia, that she might never have considered otherwise.
Exactly so. Every time we ignore the needs of someone who requires care, we risk opening a door that leads them to despair - and to compound that with policies that "make it easier" to choose death is horrific. People become desperate when they have to manage without necessary resources and I pray daily that those who cannot speak for themselves will one day be treated with the dignity they deserve.
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