Oregon fine-tunes assisted suicide law

Hospitals and physicians who oppose a patient’s right to request assisted suicide in Oregon may have a legal basis on which to stand. The Oregon legislature passed a law in May to further clarify several issues in the state’s existing Death with Dignity Act. Senate Bill 491 will amend the state’s Death with Dignity Act and is awaiting the governor’s signature; he is expected to sign it.

The measure includes language whereby health care centers may prohibit participation in assisted suicide on the premises. The language also states that physicians my provide a patient with information about assisted suicide if the patient asks.

It was written by a group that included the following Portland-based organizations: Providence Health Systems; Oregon Medical Association; hospital and long-term care lobbyists; and Oregon Right to Die. The bill also would:

• require qualified patients to prove Oregon residency with a driver’s license or other official document;

• discourage patients from committing assisted alone or in a public place;

• allow pharmacists to opt out of filling a lethal prescription as a matter of conscience;

• prohibit use of assisted suicide by those who are disabled or elderly but not terminally ill.