Physicians' Aid in Dying

. . . If Initiative 119 passes, Washington will be the only state in the in which euthanasia and assisted suicide can be practiced legally. in Washington should therefore be prepared to be deluged with from all over the country and abroad. The Adkins-Kevorkian affair that some patients may be so desperate to obtain a physician's aid in that they will travel long distances. Similarly, Dutch physicians that they receive many requests for euthanasia from people all over the. For Washington to become a center for physician-assisted dying might necessarily be inappropriate. Patients with difficult or unusual medical often travel to special centers for treatment. I can imagine that a with cancer would be willing to travel to Washington for intensive followed by bone marrow transplantation, with the expectation of able to receive a physician's aid in dying in case things turned out. On the other hand, the situation could easily be abused. I can the horror of a euthanasia clinic in Washington at which patients, undergo a superficial medical evaluation, sign a form, and are then. It will be incumbent on supporters of Initiative 119 to see to it the measure's beneficent motives are not transformed into a windfall for-serving doctors willing to profit from the misery of dying. . . . Whether or not Initiative 119 passes in the November election, it prompted an important debate among physicians about the ethical boundaries their profession. There are powerful arguments on both sides, but in the analysis I think Initiative 119 should be defeated. . .