Manifestations of Social Agency in the 1994 Reform of Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law (From Sociology of Crime, Law, and Deviance, Volume 1, P 127-154, 1998, Jeffery T. Ulmer, ed. -- See NCJ-180783)

• NCJ Number: 180787
• Author(s): John Dombrink; Daniel Hillyard
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 28 pages
• Sale Source: Jai Press, Inc
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper examines how social reformers succeeded in convincing a majority of voters in Oregon to repeal their State's ban on assisted suicide in cases of competent, terminally ill adults who repeatedly ask physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of medication.

Abstract

The analysis focuses on the political conduciveness of the Oregon electorate to reform of the law on assisted suicide, the mobilization of advocacy efforts by proponents and opponents of the law reform, and their planning and implementation of strategies and counter-strategies. It also examines the roles of public opinion, organized medicine, organized religion, and crucial activities and their organizational bases. Information came from 15 detailed interviews of crucial campaign participants and supporters from both sides, as well as archival analyses of media reports; legal texts; and campaign literature, speeches, and debates. Findings indicated that the success of the reform seekers rested on voter attitudes, neutralizing opposition strategies, and avoiding dissension in their own group. Proponents of the repeal used appeals to voluntariness and to voter opposition to religious and outside pressures to maintain voter support and neutralize the opposition. The central issue in the Oregon debate was the assurance of voluntariness. Results also indicated the significance of social agency in legal and moral change. Notes and 103 references (Author abstract modified)