Assisted Suicide: "Whose Choice?"

The following article: Assisted Suicide: "Whose Choice?" was published in the Montana Senior News, August/September 2012

Bradley Williams

By Bradley Williams 

Have you been solicited to engage in “aid-in-dying?”  Were you told that “aid-in-dying” is legal? Did something about what you were told seem not quite right? 

“Aid-in-dying” is a euphemism for assisted suicide and euthanasia. See e.g., the Model Aid-in-Dying Act, at www.uiowa.edu/~sfklaw/euthan.html (note the letters “euthan” in the link). The term, “aid-in-dying” is not limited to people who are dying. In the Montana Supreme Court case, Baxter, the plaintiffs had sought to legalize the practice for people with chronic conditions, for example, an 18 year old who is insulin- dependent. See http://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/schrempp_wonderly_opn_ltr1.pdf  

“Aid-in-dying” is, regardless, not legal in Montana. Baxter did not legalize the practice.  Moreover, a bill that would have legalized the practice ( SB 167) was defeated in the last legislative session.  

Proponents claim that legalization will assure patient “choice.” This is untrue. The bill proposed last session allowed the lethal dose to be administered without oversight. If enacted, it would have created the opportunity for an heir, or someone else who would benefit from the death, to administer the lethal dose to the patient without her consent. Even if she struggled, who would know?  

To learn more, contact Montanans Against Assisted Suicide & For Living with Dignity, 610 North 1st Street, Suite 5-285, Hamilton, MT 59840 at 406-531-0937 or visit: www.montanansagainstassistedsuicide.org