Mass. to consider assisted suicide

My friend Sacha Pfeiffer at WBUR filed this story for NPR about a ballot question Massachusetts voters will be asked to answer this November.  If voters approve the measure, that would make it the third state to legalize a lethal prescription for terminally ill patients who wish to end their lives.

What do you think? Would this question ever appear on a ballot in Rhode Island? Should it be put to voters? Or is it a private matter for physicians and patients? What’s more, how do doctors feel about assisted suicide? The American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics says it’s incompatible with a physician’s role as healer. Please feel free to weigh in.