Just as cloning has been rebadged as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer to shake off its negative connotations, Oregon has decided to rename physician assisted suicide”. Its official name is now “physician- assisted death”. Compassion & Choices, a euthanasia lobby group, suggested the change to Oregon’s Department of Human Services, to be more consistent with the wording of the legislation which allows it. Polls show that people are more likely to approve legalising the practice when the word “suicide” is not used.

Kathryn Tucker, of Compassion & Choices, says “This will be a sea change because how you speak of things strongly influences how you think of them.” Gayle Atteberry, of Oregon Right to Life, criticised the move. “They have changed it to a euphemism to make it more palatable,” she said. “Do they think it is going to make it easier for people to kill themselves?”

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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