"HBO Promotes Another Propaganda Film Pushing Assisted Suicide"

The title of this post is the headline of a recent LifeNews article. I have not viewed the film, but I have no reason to doubt that HBO is pushing assisted suicide. Perhaps that is because I've come to believe that Madison Avenue matters more than Madison when it comes to the development of constitutional law. And I could be wrong about that.

I write now, though, to note something troubling about the language in the article. Here's the key paragraph: 

As in many similar documentaries, the producers had their minds made up on the issue before they began to explore it, and so neglected to portray the arguments against assisted suicide and euthanasia fairly. They played upon public fears of becoming disabled, using the term “dignity” as the opposite of disability, and implying that the only way to retain control in one’s life was to have assisted death.

The content makes sense. It is a criticism of the producers for being one-sided and for playing upon peoples' fears. But notice the last phrase in the last sentence: "assisted death." That is a euphemism for assisted suicide. Its migration to an anti-assisted-suicide article is cause for concern.