NJ medical, healthcare professionals split on physician-assisted suicide

Just parsing the emotional and moral challenges raised by physician-assisted suicide is a daunting task. For the terminally ill, it's an opportunity to decide for themselves when they have suffered enough. But others argue that it can be used as a lethal weapon against the indigent, when treatment becomes "prohibitively" expensive. Doctors must wrestle with their Hippocratic Oath, which tasks them to "do no harm" -- often balancing it against the needs and distress of patients. And some in the healing professions feel that death with dignity can be better achieved through other means. As New Jersey ponders a bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide, these questions become increasingly urgent.