Physician assisted suicide

I heard a story on Oregon Public Radio this morning about attempts in California to legalize physician assisted suicide for terminally ill patients, or 'right to die' as supporters call it. California's Gov. Schwarzenegger strenuously refused to give his personal opinion on the topic.

California was also in the news recently when it controversially put to death a former gang leader who some claimed had changed his ways.

As most readers know, I oppose on principle state-sponsored and -implemented murder, euphemistically known as the death penalty.

I have serious reservations about physician assisted suicide and the profound ethical questions it raises.

But the juxtaposition of these two issues raises a salient question: why does the state have the right to order your death but you don't have the right to order it yourself?