Oregon embraces ‘death tourism’, becomes first state to legalize assisted suicide for non-residents
PORTLAND, OREGON: Oregon, is the first state in the United States to legalize physician-assisted suicide for non-residents. The state welcomes terminally ill non-residents to end their lives across state lines, as it now welcomes 'death tourism' in the state. The decision came after an Oregon physician filed a lawsuit against the state, claiming that the residency requirement in Oregon's Death with Dignity Act was unconstitutional.
Oregon is one of the 11 states (California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) where assisted suicide is permitted. All but Oregon demand that patients be residents, as reported by Aleteia. However, let's learn about what death tourism is.
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What is ‘Death Tourism'?
Death tourism is a system in which non-terminally ill people travel to another location and use the services of death clinics to end their lives. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are subsets of death tourism. With assisted suicide, the patients eventually take their own lives. Dr. Nicholas Gideonse, an endorser of "magic mushroom" therapy, has spearheaded efforts to make Oregon the first state in the US to permit terminally sick non-residents to travel there and take their lives.
With the efforts of Dr. Gideonse, Oregon has now opened its suicide hub to any out-of-state adult who meets the "safeguards" for capacity and terminal illness. At least one clinic in Portland's liberal bastion has begun accepting out-of-state patients who have less than six months to live and meet the other stringent requirements of the state's Death with Dignity (DWD) law, as reported by DailyMail.
Increase in Oregon's death rate due to assisted suicide
383 people were reported to have received prescriptions under the DWDA in 2021. As of January 21, 2022, 238 people had died as a result of taking prescribed medications in 2021, with 20 of them having received prescriptions in previous years. Demographic characteristics of DWDA patients were — 65 years or older (81%) and white (95%). The most common prognosis was reported to be cancer (61%), followed by neurological disease at 15% and heart disease at 12%. The Oregon Health Authority referred one physician to the Oregon Medical Board for failing to comply with DWDA reporting requirements, as reported by Oregon Death with Dignity Act.
When was Oregon's Death with Dignity Act passed?
The Death with Dignity Act, which Oregon approved on October 27, 1997, permits terminally ill people to voluntarily end their lives by self-administering fatal drugs specifically prescribed by a doctor. The Oregon Health Authority is required by the Act to compile data on the patients and doctors who take part in it and release an annual statistics report, as per Oregon Government.