In a Word…Don’t Call It Suicide  -   By Rev. John Brooke

From the text of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act:

“127.880 §3.14. Construction of Act…..

Actions taken in accordance with ORS 127.800 to 127.897 shall not, for any purpose, constitute suicide, assisted suicide,  mercy killing or homicide, under the law.”

Suicide is a pejorative word in the minds of most people, one with obvious negative connotations.  Many in the media and the public use the phrase "assisted suicide," whose negative nature is promoted by opponents of physician aid in dying.  The Oregon Death with Dignity Act simply permits the writing of a prescription by a willing physician to assist a competent adult already in the dying process who asks to hasten death in a humane and dignified manner. That is compassionate medical assistance when the patient’s disease can be neither cured nor adequately palliated.  It is not assisted suicide.

Suicide is associated in the public mind with a solitary, often violent, irrational, tragic act, usually by a clinically depressed person, destroying a life which could go on. Until recent years, suicide was widely considered a crime, and by people of some religious faiths it is still viewed as a sin.

Most states permit a physician, at the request of a dying patient, to withdraw life support, or to sedate at high levels to relieve pain, with the certain result that death will occur rapidly. Such a death is not considered a suicide.  Writing a prescription which a capable dying patient may or may not take to achieve a hastened death is presently illegal in all but three states. It is a distinction without a difference.

The option for physician aid in dying in extreme circumstances may actually be a suicide prevention measure.  Many persons over the years have stated that if they knew that they would have a compassionate medical option if their life at the end became unbearable, they would be willing to carry on much longer, knowing that they could, if necessary, request the means to a peaceful end of life.

Language matters, for language affects attitudes.  Few people are pro-abortion. A large majority of Americans are pro-choice.  Almost no one is pro-suicide. However, a majority of citizens do believe that a mentally capable dying adult should have a right to choose a humane and dignified death when continued life has become unbearable. The opposite choice, wanting to continue no-matter-what until the very last possible breath, remains intact.