Words matter

Words matter. Medical aid in dying (MAID or MAiD) is the term now widely accepted in law and medicine to describe the practice of a physician prescribing medication to a terminally ill, mentally competent, adult patient who may choose to ingest it to end suffering they find unbearable, and achieve a peaceful death. It is accurate language which should be used. Other terminology such as physician aid in dying may also be used, but increasingly there is a preference for the term medical aid in dying. (Continue reading ...)

Opposition to medical-assistance-in-dying–Part 3

In this third part of a series analyzing the arguments against medical-assistance-in-dying (MAID) by opponents of physician-assistance in hastening a person's death in the face of a terminal illness, Lamar Hankins looks at a major reference for most MAID opposition articles – a 2008 Michigan Law Review article, "Physician-Assisted Suicide in Oregon: A Medical Perspective," by psychiatrist Herbert Hendin and neurologist Kathleen Foley.  Both oppose what they term "assisted suicide." (Continue reading ...)

Opposition to medical-assistance-in-dying–Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, I addressed ten criticisms of MAID laws, particularly those in Oregon and Washington, though most such laws are modeled largely on Oregon's law.   In Part 2, I look at criticisms of MAID laws concerning economic pressures, coercion, depression, inadequate resources for MAID clients, doctor shopping, inadequate Medicaid rules, ableism, and the failure of the drugs prescribed to MAID clients.  My hope is that we can learn from opponents of MAID laws how to make the laws better. (Continue reading ...)
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