Euthanasia – Fast Facts
Fast Facts
- Studies examining the psychological background of individuals who kill themselves show that 95% have a diagnosable mental disorder at the time of death. [1]
- In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Americans do not have a Constitutional right to doctor-assisted suicide. [2]
- In 2006, the Supreme Court said that such cases should be up to the states. [3]
- Under a law which became effective on March 24, 2003, assisting a suicide is against the public policy of Ohio. An injunction may be issued against any person who is preparing to assist a suicide, in the course of assisting a suicide or who has assisted a suicide. [4]
- Oregon’s “Death With Dignity” law (1997) allows terminally ill patients to commit suicide with lethal doses of prescribed medication. Click here to read more about the abuses of this law in Oregon.
Click here to read the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide’s FAQ page.
[1] New York State Task Force on Life and the Law, When Death is Sought: Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the Medical Context, New York State Department of Health, May 1994, p. 11, Web. 11 December 2017,
<https://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/task_force/reports_publications/when_death_is_sought/>.
[2] Kate Pickert, “A Brief History of Assisted Suicide,” Time U.S., Time.com, 03 March 2009, Web. 19 July 2012, <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1882684,00.html>.
[3] Pickert.
[4] O.R.C. 3795.01, 3795.02, 3795.03.
Revised 6/5/19