(Oregon Right to Life) — The American Medical Association this month reaffirmed its opposition to assisted suicide, lending further strength and credibility to the arguments presented by pro-life and disability rights advocates. The move comes amid a flurry of efforts to expand assisted suicide this year, including in Oregon.
The American Medical Association (AMA) – the largest association of physicians and medical students in the United States – made the decision during an annual AMA House of Delegates (HOD) meeting in Chicago taking place June 6–11.
In the meeting, delegates rejected a proposal to change the AMA’s existing policy on assisted suicide, upholding the organization’s long-held opposition to the practice.
“[T]he AMA’s position on physician assisted suicide is not a position of neutrality and establishes that the profession of medicine should not support the legalization or practice of physician assisted suicide or see it as part of a physician’s role,” the HOD handbook, approved during the meeting, states.
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The AMA Code of Medical Ethics, originally drafted in 1994, expresses clear opposition to assisted suicide.
“Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks,” the code reads.
The Patients Rights Action Fund, a nonprofit opposed to assisted suicide and its expansion, highlighted the historical background for the AMA’s move in a press release shared with Oregon Right to Life.
“In 2016, the AMA initiated a three-year study of physician-assisted suicide which culminated in the AMA House of Delegates re-affirming the AMA Code of Medical Ethics in 2019,” Dr. Jeff White, Patients’ Rights Action Fund board member and a former AMA House of Delegates member, said in the statement.
“Nothing has changed in the ensuing years to warrant a change in AMA policy and terminology,” White said. “We are extremely pleased with the results of the AMA House of Delegates vote and its recognition that physicians are trained to heal and must not perform euthanasia or participate in assisted suicide.”
In addition to affirming its opposition to assisted suicide, the AMA also rejected a proposal to change its terminology from “assisted suicide” to the euphemistic expression “medical aid in dying.”
“Descriptors such as Medical Aid in Dying (MAID), physician aid-in-dying, and death with dignity could apply to palliative care practices and compassionate care near the end of life that do not include intending the death of patients,” the AMA stated. “[T]his degree of ambiguity is unacceptable for providing ethical guidance.”
The reaffirmation by the American Medical Association comes as the past year has seen a bevy of efforts this year to expand assisted suicide, including in Oregon.
Last week, Oregon’s Senate Rules Committee advanced SB 1003, a bill to expand Oregon’s “Death With Dignity Act,” in a 3-2 party-line vote.
Hundreds of medical and mental health professionals, disability rights advocates, and private citizens in Oregon and throughout the country have submitted written testimony opposing the measure. The Oregon Medical Association also submitted written testimony against SB 1003, arguing that the bill “introduces significant risks,” with language changes that could be “confusing and dangerous.”
READ: Physicians, Advocates Blast Oregon’s Radical Assisted Suicide Bill in Second Public Hearing
First introduced in February, SB 1003 would originally have reduced the current 15-day waiting period to a mere 48 hours; allowed non-physicians to prescribe lethal drugs; and forced health care facilities to publicly disclose their participation in assisted suicide, making it easier to funnel patients toward pro-assisted suicide facilities.
Following pushback, lawmakers amended the bill to soften some of its more radical proposals. However, the amended bill would still reduce the 15-day waiting period to seven days; replace the word “physician” with “practitioner,” opening the door to later changes that would allow non-physicians to prescribe lethal drugs; and require institutions to advertise their DWDA participation on their websites or in a written notice presented to patients. The Oregon Medical Association withheld a position on the amended bill.
An expansion of assisted suicide in Oregon would impact medically complex people nationwide due to the removal of Oregon’s “Death With Dignity” residency requirement, allowing people from other states to travel to Oregon for lethal prescriptions.
