Assisted Suicide

120 Pages·2008·47.906 MB·English

by  Lauri S Friedman

A s s is t e d
S u ic id e
by Lauri S. Friedman
A c >nvenient research and learning tool including
At a Glance section gives succinct topic summaries.
Objective overviews provide background and context.
Primary Source Quotes sections highlight conflicting
opinions.
Facts and Illustrations sections offer visual insight.
Key People and Advocacy Groups and Related
Organizations sections assist in further study.
Source Notes model appropriate citation forms.
Current Issues

A s s is te d
S u ic id e
Lauri S. Friedman
Current Issues
eferencePoint
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San Diego, CA
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About the Author
Lauri S. Friedman earned her bachelor's degree in religion and political science from Vassar College in
1999. Her studies there focused on political Islam, and she produced a thesis on the Islamic Revolution in
Iran titled Neither West, Nor East, but Islam. She also holds a preparatory degree in flute performance from
the Manhattan School of Music.
Friedman is the founder of LSF Editorial, a writing and editing outfit in San Diego. Her clients include
ReferencePoint Press, for whom she has written The Death Penalty, Nuclear Weapons and Security, Terrorist
Attacks, Abortion, and Islam, all in the Compact Research series.
Friedman lives in Ocean Beach, San Diego, with her husband, Randy, and their yellow lab,Trucker. In
her spare time she enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, making music, taking Trucker
to the beach, traveling, and planning her next writing project.
© 2009 ReferencePoint Press, Inc.
For more information, contact:
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any
means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution,
or information storage retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher.
Picture credits:
Maury Aaseng: 32-35,51 -52,54,70-73,88-91
AP Images: 15
Photoshot: 12
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Friedman, Lauri S.
Assisted suicide / by Lauri S. Friedman.
p. cm. — (Compact research)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-1 -60152-048-7 (hardback)
ISBN-10:1 -60152-048-4 (hardback)
1. Assisted suicide—Popular works. I.Title.
R726.F725 2008
179.7—dc22
2008039089
Contents
Foreword
4
Assisted Suicide at a Glance
6
Overview
8
Is Assited Suicide Moral?
18
Primary Source Quotes 26
Facts and Illustrations 31
Should Assisted Suicide Be Legal? 36
Primary Source Quotes 45
Facts and Illustrations 50
Does Assisted Suicide Threaten Vulnerable
People? 55
Primary Source Quotes 64
Facts and Illustrations 69
What Are the Alternatives to Assisted Suicide? 74
primary Source Quotes 82
Facts and Illustrations 87
Key People and Advocacy Groups 92
Chronology 94
Related Organizations 96
For Further Research 101
Source Notes 106
List of Illustrations 109
Index 110
Foreword
44 Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? 59
—T.S. Eliot, “The Rock.”
A s modern civilization continues to evolve, its ability to create, store,
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and perspectives is paramount to any democratic society, information alone
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ReferencePoint Press developed the Compact Research series with this
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r challenge of the information age in mind. More than any other subject
o
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e area today, researching current issues can yield vast, diverse, and unquali­
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o
fied information that can be intimidating and overwhelming for even the
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most advanced and motivated researcher. The Compact Research series
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The series focuses on three types of information: objective single­
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4
Foreword
and statistics. The clearly written objective narratives provide context
and reliable background information. Primary source quotes are care­
fully selected and cited, exposing the reader to differing points of view.
And facts and statistics sections aid the reader in evaluating perspectives.
Presenting these key types of information creates a richer, more balanced
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Assisted Suicide
at a Glance
Legalized Assisted Suicide
Physician-assisted (PAS) suicide is explicitly legal in just four places in the
world—Oregon, Washington, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
Prohibited Assisted Suicide Around the World
Physician-assisted suicide is explicitly illegal in Canada, Hungary, Italy,
New Zealand, Norway, Russia, and the United Kingdom.
Prohibited Assisted Suicide in the United States
Physician-assisted suicide is explicitly illegal in seven states—Iowa, Louisiana,
Maryland, Michigan, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia. Many
others have defeated ballot initiatives that proposed to legalize the practice.
e
c
n Number of Assisted Suicides in Oregon
a
Gl Since 1997, 341 people have used Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act to die.
a

at Assisted Suicide Rate
e Less than 1 percent of all deaths in Oregon—about 0.15 percent—
d
ci occur as a result of physician-assisted suicide. The rate is about the same
ui
S in Switzerland—0.2 percent—and in the Netherlands—0.1 percent.
d
e
t
s Age of Those Who Use Assisted Suicide
si
s
A The median age of people who have elected assisted suicide in Oregon is 69.
Race of Those Who Use Assisted Suicide
In Oregon 97.4 percent of people who have died by assisted suicide have
been white.
6