The letter below, published in the Baltimore Sun, describes the positive statistical correlation between legalizing physician-assisted suicide and the significant increase in other "regular" suicides in Oregon. This is at great financial cost to that state.
For more detail and links to supporting documentation, please see: Letter from Margaret Dore to Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, March 4, 2014, titled: "The High Financial Cost of (Regular) Suicide."
* * *
The published letter: Margaret Dore," Legalizing assisted suicide is a bad idea."
Alexa Fraser's recent commentary promotes the idea of legalizing physician-assisted suicide. . . .
The term "physician-assisted suicide" means that a physician provides the means or information to enable a patient to perform a life-ending act, such as through a lethal prescription.
The premise of Ms. Fraser's commentary is that legalization of physician-assisted suicide will eliminate other types of suicides, such as those resulting from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
This premise is not, however, supported by statistics from Oregon, which is the only state in which physician-assisted suicide has been legal long enough to have valid statistics over time.
The Oregon statistics support the conclusion that, if anything, "ordinary" suicides will actually increase if physician-assisted suicide were legalized in Maryland.