Washington State: Physician-Assisted Suicide Bill Being Considered

[David S]

This is a good law. The decision to end one's life in this situation should be up to the individual and god, if he believes in god. But it should not be up to the state, and it should not be up to do-gooders who want to inflict their views on the lives of others.

What purpose does it serve for a terminally ill patient to suffer for weeks or months before finally dying, when that person would rather end it instead?

[David S]

Nay

Why not?

[David S]

Nay

Why not?

I'd rather err on the side of caution in situations like this.  When people can give consent to others to end their life that scares me.  Consider this hypothetical:

A certified medical doctor loses 200 grand on the Super Bowl.  He can't pay his bookie, so he decided to kill him.  Instead of just murdering him, however, he locks the bookie and his family in a room and threatens his families' life if he fails to sign a waiver to certify his murder.

The next day, the doctor proclaims the patient terminally ill, and the murderer kills the bookie legally.

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I realize all of this is EXTREMELY unlikely, but I'd rather not mess with issues like this.

That's quite a stretch. The good doctor would also have to do away with the family to prevent them from testifying against him afterward. And as Emsworth points out the doctor does not administer the drugs. He can only prescribe them. There is also the requirement that the patient make a written request witnessed by two people and that two doctors must confirm the diagnosis.