1994 Oregon Ballot Measure 16

In 1994, the people of Oregon voted to approve **Oregon Ballot Measure 16**.  This measure created the **Oregon Death with Dignity Act** (ORS 127.800-995).  The Death with Dignity Act made physician-assisted suicide legal in some cases.  This means that if a competent adult with a terminal illness wanted to, they could get a prescription from a doctor.  They could then use that prescription to kill themselves.

The Death with Dignity Act made Oregon the first state in the United States to made physician-assisted suicide legal.  This is called a ballot measure.  In 1994, Ballot Measure 16 was added to the voting ballot (the voting ticket) in the state of Oregon.  The ballot measure asked if Oregon should pass a law that "Allows Terminally Ill Adults to  Prescription for  Drugs."  The vote was close, but most voters said *yes*:

Since the voters had approved the ballot measure, the Oregon Death with Dignity Act (DWDA) was created.  However, the law did not go into effect until 1997.  This was because a judge ordered an injunction  a judge's order blocking the law from being used.  

In November 1997, the Oregon state legislature put another ballot measure on the voting ticket.  This new ballot measure asked the voters if the Death with Dignity Act should be repealed.  60% of the voters said *no*; they wanted the Death with Dignity Act to stay:

## The law
The Oregon Death with Dignity Act (DWDA) allows a terminally ill person to get a prescription from a doctor that they can use to end their life.  (The DWDA specifically says that people who use the DWDA are not committing suicide.)  However, there are many .  For example:  The case went all the way to the Supreme Court.  The Court ruled in favor of Oregon.  The Death with Dignity Act could continue.

Of the 991 people who died from taking DWDA medications:
* Most (77.1%) had cancer.  The next most common disease (in 8% of patients) was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; also called Lou Gehrig's disease).
* Just over half were men (51.4%)
* The median age at death was 71 years old
* Almost all (90.5%) were getting hospice treatment, and almost all (94%) died at home
* Almost all (95.6%) chose to tell their families that they were using the Death with Dignity Act.  Forty patients (4.4%) chose not to tell their families, and 19 patients (2.1%) had no families to tell.

Many of the 991 people who used their medications had the same worries about dying.  The most common were:
* Losing control over life and the ability to do things for themselves.  Almost everyone (91.6%) had this worry.
* Not being able to do activities that made them enjoy life (89.7%)
* Losing  (78.7%)

The law says that a person has to wait at least 15 days between asking to use the DWDA and getting a prescription.  However, some people waited up to 1009 days (over two and a half years} before using their prescriptions.

## Effects
After the Supreme Court's decision in *Gonzales v. Oregon*, other states realized they could also legalize assisted suicide without getting into trouble with the federal government.  Since the Death with Dignity Act was decided in 2006, four other states have made physician-assisted suicide legal: Washington, Montana, Vermont, and California.

## Notes
## Related pages
* *Gonzales v. Oregon*
* Terminal illness
* Right to die

## References
## Other websites
* Frequently Asked Questions about the Death with Dignity Act (from the Oregon Department of Public Health)