A reader writes:
There's an important difference between a rope salesman selling a random – unbeknownst to him – suicidal man a rope, and said salesman selling his suicidal friend a rope. Any doctor who knows enough of a patient to prescribe them a lethal drug or dosage can't claim to have no moral culpability in the outcome. There is a reason enabler is a bad word.
Another writes:
I cannot be the first person to extend this analogy, but if Douthat thinks a doctor is a murderer for handing over a prescription for a lethal dose of morphine, does he think the gun seller is also a murderer for selling the depressed person a gun? I highly doubt it. The morals of the Christian right never quite seem to reach into the NRA’s backyard.
My father in law recently died after a five year struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Hospice staff was wonderful when the end came; they eased his pain, and ours. My mother has a particularly evil form of the disease and my father is in agony over her condition. He is terrified for her and for him – we talked about hospice last night. We also talked about the need for people in every state to have the option for assisted suicide. My dad is a conservative Republican.
The Dish 