Smith D M, Pollack D
Oregon Health Sciences University, USA.
Community Ment Health J. 1998 Dec;34(6):547-56. doi: 10.1023/a:1018754816369.
In November 1997, the voters of Oregon resoundingly affirmed the Oregon Death With Dignity Act. This law allows competent, terminally ill persons who are suffering in the final 6 months of life to obtain a lethal prescription from a physician. This paper presents a psychiatric defense of the Death With Dignity Act including the role of mental health professionals in evaluating competence in compliance with the law. Ethical, logistical, and political issues related to aid-in-dying are reviewed and a strategy for assessing competence is offered.
1997年11月，俄勒冈州的选民们大力支持了《俄勒冈尊严死亡法案》。该法律允许身患绝症、神志清醒且处于生命最后6个月的患者从医生那里获得致命药物的处方。本文为《尊严死亡法案》提供了一种精神病学辩护，包括心理健康专业人员在评估是否符合法律规定的行为能力方面所起的作用。文中回顾了与协助死亡相关的伦理、后勤和政治问题，并提供了一种评估行为能力的策略。
