A patient who received assisted suicide drugs last year in the US state of Oregon took 137 hours to die, nearly six days, an annual report has stated, while also revealing that many people choose death because they cannot afford healthcare.
Assisted suicide in Oregon leaped by 21% in 2023, according to a state report detailing the 367 Death with Dignity Act (DWDA) deaths that year. Health authorities attribute the rise to patients now coming from outside of Oregon to die.
Nearly 3,000 people have died through assisted suicide since Oregon legalised the procedure in 1997.
Of the people who died from assisted suicide in Oregon in 2023, 92% cited loss of autonomy as a reason, as well as a less enjoyable life (88%) and loss of dignity (64%).
43% also stated that they did not want to be a burden on loved ones, and 8% said they wanted to die because of the cost of their medical expenses.
The findings align closely with Oregon’s previous report, which showed that nearly half of assisted suicides in 2022 were because the person perceived themselves to be a “burden”, as reported by SPUC.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “Many vulnerable people think they have no option but to choose assisted suicide when they are abandoned by society or are made to feel that way.
“It’s also clear that most assisted suicides are not related to pain but to other challenges, and most worryingly, a societal pressure to choose death as many health systems find it easier and cheaper to kill problem patients rather than treat them.
“Around the world, cancer sufferers, the elderly, the disabled and even the mentally ill, are being abandoned to the thought that they might be better off dead. At a time when the UK is considering its own assisted suicide legislation, we must not allow that to happen here.”
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