- Although physical pain is often given as the main reason for allowing assisted suicide, pain is rarely an important factor when people ask to die. Only 22% of people who ask for assisted suicide in Oregon list “pain or the fear of pain” as the reason they want to die. In fact, physical pain can almost always be controlled.
- When people talk about “suffering” they sometimes mean the grief that comes with any major loss in life, such as losing the ability to walk, or the loss of a spouse or child. With encouragement and support, it’s possible to pass through this grief to feelings of peace and acceptance.
- Another kind of “suffering” has to do with becoming disabled. In Oregon, the reasons people give most often for asking for assisted suicide include: losing the ability to do favorite activities (87%), becoming dependent (90%), feeling like a burden (38%) or fear of losing their dignity because they need help with personal care (84%). Yet with architectural access and consumer-controlled home-based services, people with disabilities can stay active, integrated and in control of their lives.
- People with disabilities worry that these disability-related reasons have become widely accepted as good enough to allow assisted suicide.
All statistics taken from: Oregon Public Health Division, Center for Health Statistics, Oregon Health Authority (2012), Oregon Death with Dignity Act: data summary 2012, State of Oregon, Portland.
