This article discusses the ethical & moral issues of physician-assisted suicide. While other states have voted on legalizing the prescription of lethal doses of medication for terminally ill patients who request it, Oregon is the only state to legalize it. Physicians see the good & bad reasons on both sides of the debate. Those who incline to the yes side will be faced with agonizing decisions & those physicians who incline to the no side will not be able to shelter themselves from the paradoxes. (LC) (4 refs)