How much more open will the practice become?

Oregon voters' approval of Ballot Measure 16 in last November's election marked the first time that suicide assisted by a doctor had been legalised anywhere in the world. Although an injunction currently bars the law, its passage by the electorate suggests that American attitudes towards suicide assisted by a doctor are shifting gradually towards acceptance.1 Surveys suggest that the attitudes of American doctors2 3 4 5 are also shifting—as they are in many other countries.

If the injunction is lifted the new law in Oregon will allow a primary care doctor to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs for a terminally ill adult patient who asks for it in order to give himself or herself an overdose. The doctor has the right to decline. The patient must be a resident of Oregon who is competent, informed, and expected to die within six months. A second doctor must confirm the prognosis. The patient must make two oral requests, separated by a 15 day waiting period, and one written request. …