Judging the dying: Oregon's experience

The "death with dignity" ballot measure promoted by former Gov. Booth Gardner deserves public support.

Assisted suicide for the terminally ill is humane and, as Oregon has demonstrated, can be administered in a civilized way. It provides a choice that is actually taken by fewer than two dying people per thousand, but for them it solves a terrible problem. The people who used Oregon's law in 2006 — 46 did so — were very ill. Forty had terminal cancer and most of the rest had Lou Gehrig's disease. They were people who were losing control over their motions and bodily functions; some of them were in great pain. They were not ending their lives on a whim.

Having the option of taking one's life is a comfort even to some who never do it. Here are Oregon's figures. In 2006, 35 people ordered a lethal dose of drugs and used them. Another 11 used drugs they had received before 2006. That's the 46. Another 19 died of their diseases even though they had the drugs and could have used them. Eleven had received the drugs and were still alive at the end of the year.

Many people who opposed Oregon's law feared that patients would be railroaded into suicide. The law has a number of safeguards to prevent this — waiting periods, doctors' signatures and witnesses who aren't named in the patient's will. It can't be used for non-adults, nonresidents, the nonterminal, the mentally impaired or anyone who objects.

There have been no big scandals under this law, which has been used by a small and steady number of patients. In a population of 3.7 million, of which 30,000 die each year, deaths under the law have been running at about 40 per year. That suggests a death rate for Washington of about 70 per year.

Gardner's law will not affect many people. But those it does affect, and their families, will be thankful for its passage.