Opponents of assisted suicide have been warning all along that assisted suicide laws lead to euthanasia, and House Bill 2217 confirms their suspicion.
HB2217 was introduced for patients who could not ingest medication on their own to be able to take lethal drugs by some other means such as an IV or inhalation of a lethal gas. Despite assurances from proponents that the patient would push the button or lever, this still arguably constitutes euthanasia. Regardless of who pushes the button, someone else would be required to physically set up an IV or inhalation tubing that would be connected to a container of lethal drug and in turn would be connected to the patient’s body.
Oregonians have reason to oppose the expansion of an already harmful assisted suicide public policy. Assisted suicide and its inevitable next step, euthanasia, exacerbate the existing problem of rationing health care — especially for those at an economic disadvantage. That’s because one sure way to control health care costs is to eliminate the patient. The drugs used in an assisted suicide are far less expensive than continued care. Rationing by means of death drugs has happened, as when the Oregon Medicaid program refused to cover life-extending treatment for a Springfield woman in 2008, but agreed to fully cover assisted suicide instead. Economics should not dictate whether a person chooses to live or die.
Read more at The Oregonian…