BIOEDGE ON HOLIDAYS
CALIFORNIA GIRDS UP FOR DEBATE OVER ASSISTED SUICIDE
Legislators in California are preparing for a debate over assisted suicide, following last week’s Supreme Court ruling which supported Oregon’s 9-year-old statute. However, neither supporters nor opponents of assisted suicide feel confident of victory. Although polls show that 70% of Californians support the idea that "incurably ill patients have the right to ask for and get life-ending medication", previous initiatives have failed — in 1992 at the ballot box and in 1999 in the State Legislature.
The Oregon ruling was also based on states rights issues, not a supposed right to die. It was encouraging news for assisted suicide advocates, but hardly an endorsement of the movement.
Supporters are also testing the waters in the other West Coast state, Washington, although 15 years ago, voters rejected an assisted suicide initiative there, as well. At least two Democrats are thinking of introducing legislation but voters do not seem enthusiastic.
- How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
- House of Lords debates assisted suicideāagain - October 28, 2021
- Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021
More Stories
Are Dutch doctors too willing to euthanise people with autism and intellectual disability?
Will legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide lead to unnecessary deaths because of an able-ist bias against intellectual disability and autism?...
Euthanasia in Quebec: seamless service at a friendly funeral parlour
In Quebec, the number of cases of euthanasia has risen from 63 in 2015-2016 to 3663 in 2021-2022. Nowadays many...
Against commercial-assisted suicide
The journal Bioethics recently published an attack on commercial assisted suicide (CAS). The author, Yoann Della Croce, condemns it as...
Norway to export sperm
Danish sperm banks have grown into a successful export industry. Now Norway seems to be following the same path. The...
Denmark: parliament pressured to OK euthanasia
A proposal to legalise euthanasia in Denmark has broken the threshold of 50,000 signatures to put it before the Danish...
Australian judges need to review standards for gender dysphoria treatment
Most judges and lawyers in Australia know little about the white-hot debate amongst doctors over appropriate treatment for gender-dysphoric children....