Winston-Salem Journal writes up Rep. Pricey Harrison’s right to die bill:
John Rustin, president of the N.C. Family Policy Council, said he “strongly encourages” legislators to defeat the bill if it comes up in committee.
“The role of physicians is to protect the health, safety and welfare of their patients,” Rustin said. “This misguided proposal would allow doctors to willfully and legally participate in the killing of their patients.”
Harrison said death with dignity is “an option that ought to be available with proper supervision and safeguards.”
“We need to discuss what level of ill is terminally ill. I am certainly willing to discuss other safeguards.”
Interesting statistical breakdown on the 750 individuals who have ended their life in Oregon through physician-assisted suicide –Oregon’s law being the template for Harrison’s bill —-“about 95 percent died in their home or the home of a family member or friend. About 44 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher level degree. The average time it took an individual to lose consciousness from ingesting the prescribed drug was five minutes, along with 25 minutes to die.”
Not sure where advanced education fits into the decision to end one’s own life with help of a physician.
