OREGON CHANGES NAME OF “PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE”
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?”
- How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
- House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
- Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021
More Stories
Assisted suicide numbers in Oregon continue to rise
In 1997, Oregon became the first jurisdiction to legalise physician-assisted suicide for people with a terminally illness. Since then numbers have increased...
Belgian softens penalties for illegal euthanasia deaths
Belgian doctors can be prosecuted if they administer euthanasia without regard to the specified conditions. But however serious the infraction...
What does the world’s ‘low-fertility’ future look like?
Decades of fretting about over-population and encouraging contraception and abortion have succeeded. But the dream of zero population growth has...
Contradictory attitudes towards people with Down syndrome
March 21st was World Down Syndrome day. The event is supposed to foster awareness of Trisomy 21, as the condition...
The Gambia on track to reverse ban on female genital mutilation
In the United States, Australia, and Europe there can be no cause more popular, more humane, and more progressive than...
Some Americans are disposing of their costly frozen embryos
The cost of storing frozen embryos is steadily rising in the United States, prompting some people to have them destroyed....