The Danger of Assisted Suicide Laws: U.S. Government Report

The National Council on Disability has released the second report in its bioethics and disability series: The Danger of Assisted Suicide Laws.

The 70-page report argues that provisions intended to safeguard patients from problems or abuse "are ineffective, and often fail to protect patients in a variety of ways." The report also criticizes a "lack of data collection, oversight, and investigation of mistakes and abuse."

Most the Council's recommendations are for federal authorities to improve services like long-term care. But the report also recommends that state legislatures "should not legalize any form of assisted suicide or active euthanasia."

The NCD makes some valid points. But they overstep their data. I will be preparing a more thorough rebuttal. But most of the criticisms of MAID safeguards are misplaced, because the assessment is unmoored from the context of end-of-life healthcare decision making.