{"id":241471,"date":"2021-03-11T13:08:41","date_gmt":"2021-03-11T19:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=241471"},"modified":"2023-09-18T14:16:38","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T19:16:38","slug":"oregon-23-years-assisted-suicide-worst-mental","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/oregon-23-years-assisted-suicide-worst-mental\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon has had 23 years of legal assisted suicide, but ranks worst in mental health care"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Oregon recently released its<\/span> 23rd annual report<\/span><\/a> on the state\u2019s so-called Death with Dignity Act, which legalized physician-assisted suicide for any patient who is \u201c1) 18 years of age or older, 2) a resident of Oregon, 3) capable of making and communicating health care decisions to health care practitioners, and 4) diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the report, in 2020, 370 Oregonians were given lethal prescriptions, and of those, 245 people died from ingesting them \u2014 this number includes 22 people who had received prescriptions in previous years. The fact that 22 people received prescriptions in years prior to 2020 but lived at least one year longer to take them shows that the six-month prognosis given to such patients is often erroneous. The state\u2019s own data recorded eight people given lethal prescriptions last year who outlived their prognoses. How many of the 245 people who ended their lives in Oregon in 2020 could have gone on to live for another year, or even several years?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The desire to end one\u2019s life is a<\/span> symptom of depression<\/span><\/a>, which is a treatable illness. Yet out of the 370 people given lethal prescriptions in Oregon in 2020, only three<\/em> were referred for psychological or psychiatric evaluation. <\/span>Mental Health America<\/span><\/a>\u00a0has ranked Oregon last<\/em> in the nation for adult mental health \u2014 the worst for access to mental health care and the highest for the prevalence of mental illness. Oregon\u2019s approach to its euthanasia program is symptomatic of this larger crisis. \u201cSince its inception, the so-called \u2018Death With Dignity\u2019 Act has raised serious concerns, including Oregon\u2019s failures to address mental health concerns,\u201d said Lois Anderson,<\/span> Oregon Right to Life\u2019s<\/span><\/a> executive director.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Discrimination: Oregon hospitals accused of denying people with disabilities basic health care<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Only 60% of those given lethal prescriptions in Oregon in 2020 went on to ingest them. This shows that nearly half<\/strong> of the people who were at one point serious enough about suicide to obtain a lethal prescription went on to change their minds. How much larger might that percentage be if the others had been referred for psychological care? And of those, how many might also have outlived their prognoses? We will never know.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Oregon could attempt to treat its ill residents and improve their quality of life for its natural duration, the state is encouraging their deaths instead. History shows<\/a>\u00a0that when sanctioning lethal solutions to problems for any class of citizens,<\/span>\u00a0criteria required to be included in that class tend to expand rapidly. The utilitarian mindset that values human beings only for their material contributions to society and promotes euthanasia for those who can no longer make such contributions must be combatted like the disease it is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oregon recently released its 23rd annual report on the state\u2019s so-called Death with Dignity Act, which legalized physician-assisted suicide for any patient who is \u201c1) 18 years of age or older, 2) a resident of Oregon, 3) capable of making and communicating health care decisions to health care practitioners, and 4) diagnosed with a terminal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":788,"featured_media":189168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nOregon has had 23 years of legal assisted suicide, but ranks worst in mental health care<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nearly half of the people who were at one point serious enough about suicide to obtain a lethal prescription in Oregon went on to change their minds.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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