Annotated Bibliography
Ostrom, Carol M. "Initiative 1000 would let patients get help ending their lives." The Seattle Times 21 Sept. 2008.
In this article, Mrs. Ostrom explores the different opinions that people held in regards to Initiative 1000, which was introduced to Washington state law for people to vote on, during the 2008 elections. Initiative 1000 was passed with 58% of Washington's citizens approving it. The reasons for why they did or did not approve it however, varied greatly. Duane French who spent 40 years of his live paralyzed, stated that Initiative 1000 is going to be used as a tool to kill off people who are terminally ill or disabled. However, Initiative 1000 is closely based off of the policies that Oregon uses for their citizens who would like to participate in assisted suicide. In Oregon, no more than 30 people per year have ever taken advantage of the freedom to commit assisted suicide, so French's fears are thought to not become an issue in Washington.
ProQuest Staff. "Assisted Sucide and Euthanasia Timeline." Sirs. 2008. Sirs. 7 Dec 2008
This database time line helps the reader get a rough estimate of when assisted suicide was first a common thing to be discussed not only in America, but worldwide. In Ancient Greece and Rome, it was already defined that suicide itself was a horrible not to mention illegal act to pursue. During the enlightenment in Europe from the 17th to 18th centuries, the general public was not very concerned with suicide, so it was not a widely discussed item. However, the year 1828 was the year when the American colonies first established laws saying it was illegal to give or aid in supplying drugs, weapons, or any other item that could help aid a person in taking their own life.
No comments:
Post a Comment