I am writing to you to propose an amendment to Oregon’s doctor assisted suicide law.
My first proposal is to expand the availability of doctor-assisted suicide to include elderly persons who feel they no longer contribute to society due to extreme old age and wish to die with dignity rather than face being warehoused for years in assisted-living establishments.
This amendment would establish a new and wider exercise of personal freedom, and as America places high value on personal liberty, this amendment should be widely supported.
This amendment would establish an age at which an elderly person would be able to avail him/herself of the option of legal assisted suicide. A statewide poll could be circulated to determine the most acceptable age at which a person would have the option of doctor-assisted suicide.
Legal forms and a series of private, personal interviews would have to be devised and enacted to ensure the suicide volunteer is of a sound mind and acting without undue influence from others.
The second proposal is to establish further curriculum at medical universities to educate more technicians in doctor-assisted suicide procedures, as suicide is no task for amateurs.
Oregon’s current doctor-assisted suicide law is of benefit to the terminally ill who wish to die with dignity. I understand that this proposal to extend the law to include the otherwise healthy, but advanced elderly, may seem extreme at this time, but without the introduction of radical new ideas future change is not possible.
Leon Johnston, Albany
The letter was written as an open letter to Oregon legislators.
