Physician Assisted Suicide law passes in Washtington State

I was reading the January 30, 2009 issue of Commonweal magazine and Daniel Callahan's article states that Washington State passed a Physician Assisted Suicide law on November 4, 2008. I didn't know this. The vote passed 59 to 41 percent.

Oregan has had such a law in 1994 and it went into effect in 1997. In the last 11 years 341 people in Oregon have used the law to kill themselves.

There are many reasons that people want such laws and Callahan posits that the primary reason is the fear of losing self-control, not the fear of pain. I think he is right. There are those people who want to be in control right up to the end and they want to die the way they want to die. They are not willing to surrender or put themselves in the hands of others or of natural forces over which they have no control.

It appears that the Physician Assisted Suicide laws have not been abused in Oregon and the opponents fears have not come to pass.

Whether PAS is a good thing or not, I still have mixed feelings about. I would be interested in your comments.