Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon’s Death with Dignity Law is the subject of dueling articles in the latest Michigan Law Review.

The entire issue is devoted to the impact of a 10-year old U.S. Supreme Court ruling on assisted suicide.

The articles are now becoming fodder in the campaign for an Oregon-style measure in Washington State. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

Oregon officials are not collecting enough data to protect terminally ill patients. That’s the conclusion of one article in the June 2008 Michigan Law Review. Its authors are two doctors.

Opponents of Ballot Measure I-1000 in Washington State -- which is modeled on the Oregon law -- hope voters take note.

Chris Carlson chairs the No on I-1000 campaign.

Chris Carlson: “The proponents like to point to Oregon and say the law is working in Oregon. The fact of the matter is the law is not really working in Oregon.”

The law is working responds Kathryn Tucker, legal director for Compassion and Choices in Oregon - a major financial backer of the Washington initiative.

In her law review article, Tucker says the law has proven useful and harmless. She adds that end-of-life care in Oregon is now better than before the law.

Online:

Michigan Law Review