m care. Some may feel forced or be coerced by their families and doctors to opt for euthanasia. Of course, no law can guarantee that coercion will never occur. We can't know for sure what family members' motives may be in any number of already legal health care and other decisions in which they participate. But should we reduce our available choices because we don't believe people can always make the right decisions for the right reasons or because we fear possible abuses? Or should we continue to expand our individual choices and freedoms while doing our best to prevent inappropriate and coerced influences and to educate all people in critical decision making?In fact, abuses are far more likely to occur within the present unregulated, covert, and occasional practice of assisted suicide. There is no accountability for such deaths, no procedures, no safeguards, and no reporting requirements. How much safer would it be if laws such as those in Oregon were in place nationwide? Can the debate over legalization of Euthanasia be compared to the debate over legalizing abortion? Wasn't the main reason for legalizing abortion because it was being done anyway. People still had access to abortion, it was just being done terribly. We're in exactly the same situation today. People do have access to assisted suicide, it's just being done poorly.I believe, that if in this great country, we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness then why shouldn't a person have the right to control the conditions of their death as much as they have the right to control the conditions of their living. If procedures similar to the Dutch model can help us avoid unnecessary suffering, it would be worthwhile to work out with the legal and medical professions. By firmly establishing the right to die in America, an extension of the right to privacy, we are safeguarding such fundamental rights against governmental exploitation. If not a legal law, there ...
