Hemlock Society

In the following viewpoint, the Hemlock Society, a national right-to-die organization, responds to the claim that legalizing voluntary euthanasia would put disabled persons at risk of being killed without their consent. The Hemlock Society maintains that it supports voluntary euthanasia only for mentally competent, terminally ill individuals who specifically and repeatedly request it. According to the authors, there is no evidence that disabled persons have anything to fear from the right-to-die movement. Unfounded fears, the Hemlock Society concludes, should not impede efforts to make assisted suicide legal for suffering, dying patients.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What percentage of Americans support the legalization of physician aid in dying, according to the Hemlock Society?
2. What evidence does the organization Not Dead Yet have for its claim that doctors are “too...