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Oregon's Death with Dignity Act

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Oregon's Death with Dignity Act
Oregon 's Death with Dignity Act
Morgan Boyer
Mountain View High School

Abstract
Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, gives competent Oregon adults the right to commit physician assisted suicide through a lethal dose of medication, also known as physician assisted suicide. A doctor was behind the movement, and a big of question of the era was how people should handle the end of their life. The law faced several judicial complications and challenges before becoming an accepted and legitimate law in Oregon. Physician assisted suicide is controversial and interest groups dealing mainly with but not limited to human liberties and religious reasoning contrast on the topic.

Policy Identification and Explanation
Under ORS Chapter 127: Death with Dignity Act (127.800-127.995), a capable adult Oregon resident who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness by a physician may request a prescription for a legal dose of medicine for the purpose of terminating the patient’s life (ORS Chapter 127: Death with Dignity Act, 1994). A person is considered eligible for the lethal medication if they are an adult, of at least eighteen years of age, are mentally capable, a resident of Oregon, have been determined by an attending physician as suffering from a terminal illness, and have voluntarily expressed their wish to die (ORS Chapter 127: Death with Dignity Act, 1994). A patient must prove their residency to be considered eligible for physician assisted suicide. Factors demonstrating residency in the state of Oregon include but are not limited to, “possession of an Oregon driver license, registration to vote in Oregon, evidence that the person owns or leases property in Oregon, or the filing of an Oregon tax return from the most recent tax year” (ORS Chapter 127: Death with Dignity Act, 1994).
A patient must follow extensive steps before being granted the right to die. They must fill out the ORS 127.879 form and sign and date it. Next, they must have two witnesses, which attest



References: About the ACLU American Civil Liberties Union. (2012).. Retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/about-aclu-0 Committee Against Physician Assisted Suicide. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.stopassistedsuicide.org/About/What-is-this-about Dunn M.D., P. (2008). Purpose of the guidebook. In The Oregon Death with Dignity Act:A Guidebook for Health CareProfessionals (p. 4). Retrieved from http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/education/continuing-education/center-for-ethics/ethics-outreach/upload/Oregon-Death-with-Dignity-Act-Guidebook.pdf Legal and political timeline in Oregon. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.deathwithdignity.org/historyfacts/oregontimeline Oregon’s death with dignity act--2012. (2013). Retrieved from http://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year15.pdf ORS Chapter 127: Death with Dignity Act, §§ 127.800-127.995 (1994). O’Reilly, K. B. (2010). Physician-assisted suicide legal in Montana, court rules. Retrieved from http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/01/18/prsb0118.htm Sandeen, P. (2011). Living with dying. Retrieved from http://www.deathwithdignity.org/2011/06/03/kevorkian-dies-age-83 Vacco, D. C. (1996). ACLU Amicus Brief in Vacco v. Quill . Retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/content/aclu-amicus-brief-vacco-v-quill

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