- On December 8th, the Ohio Senate approved House Bill 470, which would make assisting a suicide a felony in the state of Ohio. This is an excellent preemptive move in a state that currently has no law allowing PAS.
- This last weekend the American Psychiatric Association gave a final approval to a policy statement about their ethical involvement in PAS or euthanasia. Below is the statement:
The American Psychiatric Association, in concert with the American Medical Association’s position on Medical Euthanasia, holds that a psychiatrist should not prescribe or administer any intervention to a non-terminally ill person for the purpose of causing death.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/12/15/at-last-american-psychiatrists-speak-out-on-euthanasia/?utm_term=.5347028f1532
While it may seem that this statement doesn't impact the PAS issue - at this time - the truth is that history has shown in other countries the slippery slope that starts with terminal disease and then progresses to non-terminal illnesses and mental health disease. Voluntary euthanasia extends to involuntary euthanasia.
Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
