Physician-assisted Dying and the Slippery Slope: the Challenge of Empirical Evidence

Direct physician-assisted dying, typically called physicianassisted suicide by opponents and aid in dying by proponents, is of increasing salience for at least two reasons: legal evolution and changing demographics. As of this writing, physician-assisted dying has been legal in Oregon for a decade. Known as Measure 16 at the ballot box, the Death with Dignity Act (ODDA, or, in Oregon, DWDA) passed in 1994 and came into effect in 1997. Under the Act, it is legal for a physician to provide a lethal drug prescription to a terminally ill Oregon resident who voluntarily requests it, if that resident is a legally competent adult. Under a set of safeguards, the statute allows a person to “end his or her life in a humane and dignified manner.” Voluntary physician-performed euthanasia, wherein the physician administers the lethal drug, is prohibited in Oregon, but it is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, and, as is expected to become the case shortly, Luxemburg. Non-physician assisted suicide, under specific conditions, is legal in Switzerland, and