By Filings on
Society & Culture
Assisted Suicide
Bioethics

“Maine will join seven other states and the District of Columbia in allowing medical aid in dying. The legislation says mentally competent patients over age 18 with terminal diseases that, ‘within reasonable medical judgment, produce death within 6 months’ can request life-ending medication.” - CNN

Discussion

Fri, 06/14/19

The bill does actually address a lot of the issues that came to the fore with the career of Jack Kervorkian, including whether the patient actually consents, how many physicians are required (this bill requires 2), the issues of mental state, and more. That said, I think it still leaves the door at least cracked for heirs to pressure their benefactor to die sooner, because all you need is a couple of witnesses and a couple of doctors to learn the trade of “looking the other way” when things aren’t clean. It also leaves open the question of what happens when the patient is in great pain, but cannot talk or write.

So expect more here.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.