Throwing yourself out with the bathwater

Like with eugenic abortion and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, assisted suicide offers death as a solution; a medical treatment that does not eliminate disease, just the patient who has it.

The slippery slope here is very slippery.  Most do not realize the implications of legalized assisted suicide.  Washington state surely did not understand the slide it stepped on when it passed I-1000 on Tuesday.  Initiative 1000 allows doctors to write lethal prescriptions for patients who are considered terminally ill with 6 months left to live.

It sounds nice until you realize that the "right-to-die" movement will not stop pushing assisted suicide as a "solution" until every adult in the United States can kill themselves by asking a doctor for a lethal prescription.  It sounds extreme, but within days of passing I-1000, Final Exit Network released this statement which clearly says that I-1000 did not go far enough:

November 5, 2008

Olympia, WA

Although the supporters of Initiative I-1000 are delighted that Washington becomes the second state to pass a “Death with Dignity Act”, there is much more to be done. Ted Goodwin, President of Final Exit Network, said, “We congratulate all those who worked so hard to achieve this important right for Washington’s citizens, and we applaud the citizens of Washington State for making the right choice. “Final Exit Network and its members supported passage of this landmark initiative by donating to the advocacy effort spearheaded by Washington Death with Dignity and former Governor Booth Gardner. However, the job is not finished”.

Although, like Oregon’s “Death with Dignity Act,” I-1000 gives doctors the authority to prescribe a lethal dose of medications to terminally ill individuals under strict controls, it condemns to continued suffering as many as 40% of those who desperately want to end their life because of intolerable suffering but cannot under the law because their illness is not diagnosed as “terminal”.

“Unfortunately,” said Goodwin, “many patients do not meet I-1000’s strict criteria. Individuals with neurological illnesses such as Parkinson's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) and Alzheimer's disease often lose the reason and will to live long before their disease qualifies as ‘terminal’.” Goodwin adds, “For these individuals, neither I-1000 nor the Oregon law go far enough. “That is why Final Exit Network pledges, until laws protect the right of every adult to a peaceful, dignified death, Final Exit Network will be there to support those who need relief from their suffering today!” [my emphasis]

Let me repeat.  Death is not a solution.  Nor is it "medical treatment."  Real medical treatment relieves the suffering.  It does not eliminate the patient. 

Final Exit Network really wants all of us to be able throw ourselves out with the bath water. Some "solution."