Study counters argument against assisted suicide

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A study of doctor-assisted suicide in the Netherlands and Oregon counters the argument that making it legal may lead to more of these deaths among vulnerable groups like the disabled, although it did find some evidence for this among people with AIDS.

The research, published on Wednesday, tested the "slippery slope" argument advanced by some critics that by permitting doctors to help certain patients end their lives, members of some groups may die in disproportionately large numbers.

They analyzed data from two leading places where assisted suicide is legal and tracked 10 "vulnerable" groups, including the physically disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill, elderly, poor, racial and ethnic minorities, women and others.

Critics of assisted suicide have argued that people in these groups might be influenced to end their lives through doctor-assisted suicide.

"We found that there is no evidence of disproportionate impact of these practices, when legal, on any of those groups, with the exception of people with AIDS," University of Utah bioethicist Margaret Battin, who led the study appearing in the Journal of Medical Ethics, said in a telephone interview.

The researchers looked at data on assisted suicide and euthanasia in the Netherlands from 1985 to 2005 and Oregon Department of Human Services annual reports for 1998 to 2006, along with surveys of doctors and hospice workers. Oregon is the only U.S. state where doctor-assisted suicide is legal.

"Those who received physician-assisted dying in the jurisdictions studied appeared to enjoy comparative social, economic, educational, professional and other privileges," the researchers wrote.

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