Brownback Files "Assisted Suicide Prevention Act"
Senator Sam Brownback (R KS) held hearings about assisted suicide at which I testified a few months ago. (Link to testimony, here.) He has now filed the Assisted Suicide Prevention Act, which would prohibit federally controlled substances from being used in assisted suicide. This bill is in keeping with U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Gonzales v. Oregon, which ruled explicitly that Congress has this power.
Of course, filing a bill and passing a bill are two different things. No doubt Oregon Senator Ron Wyden will filibuster, as he did the Pain Relief Promotion Act a few years ago, preventing passage. That was a real shame in that the PRPA would have gotten the DEA off of doctors' backs regarding pain control, while at the same time, preventing controlled substances from being prescribed by doctors for suicide.
Still, Brownback is to be applauded for promoting a federal policy against assisted suicide that is consistent current policy (no federal Medicaid funds can be used in assisted suicide, for example), and in keeping with the intent and purposes of the Controlled Substances Act.
Stay tuned for the fireworks...
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 1:19 PM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
So, how are you going to prevent unassisted suicide by the terminally ill? You can't, and no one can, if palliative care fails.
In fact, passing the ASPA would encourage those recently diagnosed to commit suicide because they fear losing the effects of the DWD act.
"Depression" during a terminal illness is natural, and not always treatable. We ALL want choice, even if that choice is to die naturally.
And besides, isn't acceptance the final stage of grief?
http://www.cancersurvivors.org/Coping/end%20term/stages.htm
Even if they think "I'm ready for whatever comes", everyone has their limits, and given enough torture, even the most faithful religious follower would beg for death.
And now we have desperate people taking the next logical step:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2006/08/04/bc-drugs.html
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