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The VE Bulletin Excerpts
Oregon's way: How the Death with Dignity Act supports its citizens.
The Oregon Death with Dignity Act was passed in November 1994 and was the catalyst for the formation of the Taskforce to Improve the Care of Terminally- Ill Oregonians by the Center for Ethics in Health Care, Oregon Health and Science University. The Task Force: is a consortium of health provider organizations, agencies, and institutions which seeks to promote excellent care of the dying and to address the ethical and clinical issues posed by enactment of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. While individual Task Force members and the organizations they represent have differing viewpoints and values regarding physician-assisted suicide and the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, the Task Force has endeavored to maintain a neutral position on these issues(1).
This consortium includes hospital representatives, physicians, representatives of the Oregon Bar, Oregon Board of Pharmacy, Oregon Health Division, Oregon Hospice Association, Oregon Nurses Association, Oregon Board of Medical Examiners, Oregon State Pharmacists, Oregon Psychiatric and Psychological Associations and Oregon Medical Association (2). The mission of the Task Force is to:
- Share information, experience, and understanding
- Facilitate the development of professional standards
- Develop and coordinate educational resources
- Foster relationships and networking
The Task Force also endorses universal access to hospice care, and in 1998 developed a 124 page comprehensive Guidebook for Health Care Professionals. Chapter 3 on 'Conscientious Practice' clarifies the role of the individual practitioner and health care organization under the Act. If after a full discussion with the patient the health care professional cannot continue providing care due to personal objections, they must transfer care to another professional, for to do otherwise would be considered abandoning the patient. If the physician declines to personally assist in finding a new physician s/he must not hinder the transfer (by someone else).
Under the Act all health care professionals and health care systems have a right to know whether patient care involves actions they would not endorse and have the right to refuse to participate. Health care systems that choose not to participate in physician-assisted suicide must notify patients and health care professionals in advance, and understand the importance of informing prospective employees about policies that might influence their desire for employment.
Barbara Coombs Lee, President Compassion and Choices and Chief Petitioner for the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, has stated:
The problem is that medical science has conquered the gentle and peaceful deaths and left the humiliating and agonizing to run their relentless downhill course. The suffering of these individuals is not trivial and it is not addressed by anything medical science has to offer. Faced with this dilemma, the problem for many is that the law turns loving families into criminals. It separates loved ones at the end, when it is most important to be close. It encourages patients to choose violent and premature deaths while they still have the strength to act. And it forces some to suffer through a slow and agonizing death that contradicts the very meaning and fabric of their lives... When we know that certain rare and desperate cases call for a compassionate response in the form of assisted death our democratic heritage demands that the law be consistent with that knowledge.(3)
The Oregon Death with Dignity Act goes a long way to achieving this.
References:
1. www.edu/ethics/guidebook.pdf
2. Hillyard D. & Dombrink J (2001) Dying Right: The Death with Dignity Movement Routledge.
3. Barbara Coombs Lee- Testimony Before The U.S. House Subcommittee On The Constitution Concerning The Legality Of Assisted Suicide, April 29, 1996
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