California’s End of Life Option Act went into effect on June 9. An important step in the passage of this legislation came when the California Medical Association moved from an opposing to a neutral stance on the issue of medical aid-in-dying.
The Oregon Medical Association has had a neutral stance on this issue for almost 20 years after much initial debate. Recently, “at the June meeting the OMA Board of Trustees took up a resolution that requests the AMA study the issue of medical aid-in-dying, considering both data collected from states that currently authorize the practice, and input from physicians who have provided aid in dying to qualified patients. After discussion on the issue and some amendment of the resolution, the board passed the recommendation requesting the AMA’s study of the issue.” [1]
The American Medical Association has decided to further study the issue.
Take Action
- Contact the AMA’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs to express your support for physician aid-in-dying.
- Take a moment to understand the laws based on Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act (see our Resources).
- Talk with your physician and ask them to weigh in on this as well.
- Share Dr. M. John Rowe III’s powerful opinion piece “Beliefs”, published posthumously in the Journal of the American Medical Association. [2]
References
[1] “OR Medical Vote: Opioids, Drones, Assisted Suicide,” Oregon Business Report, June 9, 2016
[2] “A Piece of My Mind: Beliefs,” JAMA, September 2015, Vol. 314. No. 9, pp. 877-878