Hacker Cinema
How to Die in Oregon
2011 · Film · documentary · 107 min
Directed by Peter Richardson
In 1994 Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. At the time, only Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands had legalized the practice. 'How to Die in Oregon' tell the stories of those most intimately involved with the practice today -- terminally ill Oregonians, their families, doctors, and friends -- as well as the passage of an assisted suicide law in Washington State.
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2 comments on Hacker News
There are some states that allow medically-assisted suicide in cases of terminal illness, my state (Oregon) being one of them. There’s actually a great documentary about it called “How to Die in Oregon”.
Personally, I think that it’s cruel to force someone to stay alive who is so tired and in pain and just wants it to be over. I watched my grandfather deteriorate and eventually he just wanted to give up. Had we had those laws in place at that time he could have died calmly with family around. Instead, he was suffocated to death by cancer. You tell me which sounds worse.
This doesn't address your questions, but does address your comments.
I know someone who managed to obtain a lethal dose of the drug they prescribe in Oregon. He believes in the right-to-die movement but lives in a state that will probably never allow it. Before anyone asks, I don't know how he got his hands on it.
"How to Die in Oregon" is a heartbreaking documentary on the right-to-die issue that brought me to tears (I don't cry easily). The assisted deaths that occur at the start and end of the film are punctuated by the patients reassuring their family members that they are in no pain as they say goodbye. Both had low quality of living due to their respective illnesses, but they got to say goodbye on their own terms and with dignity. Very touching.