For years, the assisted suicide movement has been pressuring medical associations to assume positions of “studied neutrality” about the legalization of assisted suicide. Never mind that taking no position on one of the most important medical-ethical controversies of our era is a cowardly abdication of doctors’ crucial leadership role in society. The knees of some organizations — such as the California Medical Association — have buckled.
But not the American Medical Association. Despite intense pressure, today the AMA reaffirmed its unequivocal opposition to assisted suicide. The position of the AMA continues to be:
Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks
Bravo!