In Oregon, you can request the administration of medication to terminate your life if you are terminally ill.
On October 27, 1997 Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act which allows terminally-ill Oregonians to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose.
The Oregon Death with Dignity Act requires the Oregon Department of Human Services to collect information about the patients and physicians who participate in the Act, and publish an annual statistical report.
In Minnesota you are not allowed to refuse treatment if you are afflicted with cancer.
Minneapolis (AP) — A 13-year-old boy's vow to resist chemotherapy by punching or kicking anyone who tries to force it on him will present doctors with a tough task if they can't change his mind. ...
Daniel and his parents stopped chemotherapy after one treatment and opted for "alternative medicines," prompting Brown County authorities to intervene. The cancer is regarded as highly curable with chemotherapy and radiation, but likely fatal without it. ...
"It can be very difficult to treat a 13-year-old boy who doesn't want to be treated," said Arthur Caplan, chair of the medical ethics department at the University of Pennsylvania. "I don't want to say it's impossible, but it makes it very tough on the doctors."
Last week, Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg said Daniel's parents, Colleen and Anthony Hauser, were medically neglecting him. Rodenberg said if a new X-ray shows a good prognosis for Daniel, chemotherapy and possible radiation appear to be in his best interest, Rodenberg said.
Yes, I understand that in Oregon the process depends on certification that the illness is terminal, and that Hodgkins Lymphoma in a young man is very treatable. In the Oregon situation, though, the state has granted the individual to make informed decisions about their own life; in Minnesota, that ability and responsibility has been taken away by the state simply because the state disagrees with the decision.
My opinion? I think that physician assisted suicide is absolutely wrong, and that in this case the state of Minnesota is likely correct in ordering treatment. In both cases I come down on the side of the physicians not being a party to the hastening of death.
