Why is assisted suicide psychologys issue?
THE RECENT ASSISTED SUICIDE debate in the Council of Representatives (April Monitor) grabbed my interest. The real question here is not whether assisted suicide is ethical but why should APA have an official opinion on this issue at all? Is this not an issue on which honorable, intelligent, educated people can disagree? Obviously, APA’s Council of Representatives has no consensus. It is a philosophical and moral issue, and therefore not resolvable by scientific research anyway, and addressing the issue at all has made APA look ridiculous. I fear that if APA does not turn itself away from this self-defeating tendency soon, its influence will diminish to the point of no return. When a professional organization takes up policing political correctness, it destroys its very purpose for existence. The purpose of virtually all professional organizations is to directly facilitate the practice of members’ professions. Therefore, APA should not be allowed to be used for political purposes, neith
