Oregon's assisted suicide law blamed on poor care

The fact that a US state with inadequate end-of-life care and low patient trust allows assisted suicide is no basis for changing the UK law, a doctor has warned. Since 1997 physician assisted suicide has been legal in Oregon for terminally ill patients. Assisted suicide lobbyists have called for a similar system to be adopted in the UK. But palliative care specialist Dr David Jeffrey says the law there is seen as a “safety net” by “a society which has little trust in its doctors’ ability to provide effective end-of-life care.” Many patients in Oregon are excluded from the kinds of palliative treatment available in the UK, argues Dr Jeffrey in an article featured in this month’s issue of Evangelicals Now. Christian Institute, Evangelicals Now