AMA Maintains Opposition to Assisted Suicide

The American Medical Association, or AMA, has long supported abortion on demand.  But it has long taken a stand against physician assisted suicide.  And in the face of recent intense pressure, the physician’s group voted to reject assisted suicide by a two-to-one margin.  It stated, “allowing physicians to participate in assisted suicide would cause more harm than good. [It’s] fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer [and] would be difficult or impossible to control.”  This decision is the result of physicians, medical students, interns and residents who have spoken up.  The margin of victory is important because it sends a strong message to congress and the public at large that a doctor’s job is to heal, not to kill.