Physician Assisted Suicide

Physician Assisted Suicide is possibly the most controversial issue on the news these days. What are your thoughts on this issue?

(I am the grandchild of a Wesleyan Minister and was raised in the Church. I attended Baptist services & Catholic Mass as an adult, so religious teaching has always been a big part of my life.  Plus I worked in Nursing for 12 years.. so will share my experience throughout this blog.)

I'm American and currently 3 states allow P.A.S. , Montana, Oregon and Washington.

The first Death With Dignity Act  (Oregon ballot measure 16) was passed in 1994, 935 have had prescriptions written and 596 have ingested the medication to end their lives as of 2011.  The average age of those choosing to use this law is 71 and 80.9 had terminal cancer.

Until a year ago I didn't know about this issue because I live in a conservative state. Sure I knew about Jack Kevorkian but thought this issue ended with his imprisonment. I was so wrong. His actions and the debate didn't start or end with him.  Because of Kevorkian the debate was more in the news and more people was willing to discuss it. I happed to find a video on YouTube, the suicide tourist, that opened my eyes to the subject.

During the life of this blog I will discuss the current laws and my thoughts on this issue.