What is the status of euthanasia in the US?

Answer 1

Nowhere in the US is full-fledged euthanasia legal. Assisted suicide, however is legal in three states, and a fourth is considering it: * Oregon, state legislature, late 1990s * Washington, initiative, 2008 * Montana, court decision, 2008/2009 * Bill currently in New Hampshire legislature While euthanasia is not currently a big debate in the US, assisted suicide is hotly debated. Many believe that we should give people the choice to kill, whether it be potential life in an abortion or suicide for terminally ill, but some believe those under "severe psychological pain" (could be interpreted as chronic depression) should be able to kill themselves. The other side holds that we must not play the role of the Grim Reaper, we must let nature take its course, making the passing of our loved ones comfortable through hospice and morphine. Giving greedy relatives and financially-pressed health care providers could cause some to turn to this for profit. When you dance with Grim Reaper, someone loses. When speaking of euthanasia it is important to note the different uses of that term. Involuntary euthanasia is the taking of life without the informed consent of the patient. That is not legal in the United States. Voluntary euthanasia refers to the action taken by the patient and physician who both agree to end the patient's life. Voluntary euthanasia is often used interchangeably with assisted suicide. While Americans are split on the moral aspect of this issue polls show that a majority of Americans still believe that a doctor should be able to assist a terminally ill patient to end their life if the patient requests help. Republicans are reportedly more likely than democrats to object to patient directed right-to-die issues. In Montana, a decision by District Court judge Dorothy McCarter in December, 2008 ruled that the Montana constitutional rights of individual privacy and human dignity encompass the right of a terminally ill patient to die with dignity. It also said that patients had the right to physician-prescribed medications to hasten death and their physicians could not be prosecuted for providing assistance. That ruling has been appealed by the state's attorney general, Michael McGrath, on the grounds that the state legislature should decide on the issue and not the court. Unless the Montana Supreme Court overturns the lower court ruling, the ruling will be the law. In an interesting development, Michael McGrath has recently been sworn in as the chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court. He will recuse himself if the court takes the appeal. Also, State Representative Richard Barrett has filed legislation that would put McCarter's ruling into law with a bill to officially allow assisted suicide. In November of 2008 the state of Washington voted to allow assisted suicide in accordance with the Oregon model which was passed in 1994. The law takes effect March 4, 2009.