Death with Dignity Act lacks effective safeguards to protect depressed people.

This letter was written by Donna Goodwin and published in the New York Daily News on August 27, 2014.

Assisted suicide brings with it consequences on society that The Times’ editorial board ignored in its most current editorial on the situation, "Death with Dignity for the Terminally Ill proposal includes vital safeguards" (Aug. 10).

In Washington state and Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal, there is virtually no oversight to safeguard for those who may possibly be depressed, which generally, if not normally, occurs at some point throughout the course of an illness. 

Supposed “safeguards” written into the bill are full of holes.  It has been alleged that all people who obtain a prescription for the deadly dose of drugs will be mentally competent.  How is it, then, that Michael Freeland in Oregon, a man with a 40-year documented history of depression, received a prescription by a medical professional for the lethal drugs? 

The language in the bill that all who request the drugs are capable of creating that choice are mere words on paper and totally ineffective. 

Donna Goodwin,
Lawrence