The argument that the legalisation of assisted suicide in Oregon in 1997 has not started a “slippery slope” is dangerously misleading (‘Slippery slope’ fears over assisted dying have echoes of abortion debate, 24 November). While Oregon’s eligibility criteria have changed little, their interpretation has widened and safeguards have been relaxed. Oregon’s law, like Kim Leadbeater’s proposed bill, allows assisted suicide for adults with a “terminal illness that will lead to death within six months”. Interpretation of “terminal illness” has expanded such that physicians have prescribed lethal drugs to people with anorexia and arthritis.
As for safeguards, Oregon’s 15-day “waiting period” (similar to that proposed in Kim Leadbeater’s bill) ceased to be mandatory in 2020. The following year, exemptions were made in one in five cases; the year after that, one in four. In the first three years after Oregon’s law passed, 28% of those seeking assisted suicide were referred for psychiatric evaluation; in 2022, only 1%. It is also worth noting that in the first year after Oregon’s legalisation passed, 13% of patients seeking assisted suicide cited fear of being a “burden” as a motivating factor. In 2021, that figure stood at 54%. Sick, elderly and disabled people are not burdens. They are, like every person, valuable. Like every person, they need and deserve care – not lethal drugs.
Katherine Backler
Oxford
