Oregon’s ‘suicide crisis’ continuing to increase

Oregon’s ‘suicide crisis’ continuing to increase

Assisted suicides continued to rise in Oregon in 2018, and Lois Anderson, director of Oregon Right to Life, says legislators in the state are calling it a “suicide crisis.”

Oregon, which legalized assisted suicide in October 1997, saw its highest number of such deaths (168) in 2018, according to a recent report issued by the Canada-based Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. That is up from 158 in 2017.

So far, 2,217 Oregonians have died by assisted suicide since the practice became legal.

Anderson said the report comes with a special irony: the legislature is considering bills to help prevent suicide in young people ages 10 to 24 while also considering bills that would broaden assisted suicide access. (BP)