Many people, like me, find it macabre that the execution of murderers is done with the use of lethal drugs, but this is a taboo, even illegal, when a dying person asks for assisted suicide (euthanasia). The only exception in America is Oregon.
The latest example is Senator Brownback’s Assisted Suicide Prevention Act, just introduced into the US Senate. (August 2006)
While the “dispensing, distribution, or administration of a controlled substance” will not be allowed for assisted suicide, the Bill will specifically authorize the same actions for carrying out the death penalty (see section 3(5) of Brownback’s bill).
The full text for Bill S.3788 can be viewed at
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query
Further reading on assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia at the ERGO Bookstore.
