In an unguarded moment, an Oregon suicide advocate revealed a botched assisted suicide. The event landed its victim in the emergency room and eventually in a nursing home. Yet this case didn't show up in the annual report. Thanks to a campaign by pro-life groups, churches and the Christian Medical Association, Maine voters said no. Nationally, Vice President Al Gore had waffled on assisted suicide, attempting to frame the matter as one between patient and doctor.
Common sense dictates that ought to be left to the family in consultation with the physician.
In contrast, President-elect George W. Bush went on record opposing assisted suicide and upholding the Pain Relief Promotion Act , which passed in the House of Representatives but died in the Senate. That legislation would fund training in pain management and prevent physicians from using federally regulated narcotics in physician-assisted suicides. Shaping a Culture of Life In pre-war Nazi Germany, physicians collaborated with Hitler in euthanasia initiatives. This paved the way for the Holocaust. Philosophers and physicians helped convince the public that killing the handicapped and mentally ill by euthanasia was actually compassionate.