Conflicts of Conscience Hospice and Assisted Suicide

Abstract

Proposals to legalize assisted suicide challenge hospice's identity and integrity. In the wake of Measure 16, Oregon hospice programs must develop practical policies to balance traditional commitments not to hasten death and not to abandon patients with dying patients' legal right to request lethal prescriptions.

Palliative care: science and protection at the end of life

“…The movement is emerging in an ethos based on compassion and care for patients and their families, seen as a unit, in an active search for measures to relieve the anguishing symptoms -especially pain -and thus relieve suffering, while facing death as part of the natural process of life history rather than as an enemy in battle. Curiously, in the age of high biotechnology, a modality of care for persons that are dying proves to be an interdisciplinary intervention with a revolutionary thrust: a hasty look fails to capture the dimension of palliative care, a health field praxis that combines scientific knowledge, bioethical interpellation, and sensitivity in the face of human suffering 1,2,3,4 .…”

Conversations at the End of Life

“…The option of DWD in some ways aligned itself with the hospice philosophy through patient control yet the tenet that hospice neither hastens nor postpones death seemed at odds with the choice of DWD. Across all settings, professionals who had worked side by side suddenly found themselves in disagreement about whether DWD should be an option in end-of-life care (Campbell, Hare, & Matthews, 1995;Mesler & Miller, 2000).…”

Take Some Time to Look Inside Their Hearts

“…The excerpts from these interviews are presented as representing the patterns that emerged into three major themes. Campbell, Hare, and Matthews (1995) describe the conflict between PAS and the hospice philosophy as a "crisis of conscience" (p. 37). The authors believe that the Death with Dignity Act will forever change hospice care in Oregon as professionals will be forced to look closely at their personal and moral values as well as professional codes of ethics related to this legal choice.…”