Don’t look now, but the euphemism police are trying to slap the cuffs on the term “assisted suicide,” which refers to the manner in which people who take advantage of Oregon’s unique law die: They take a fatal dose of a drug prescribed by a willing physician.

That sounds like assisted suicide to us, but it doesn’t to a Denver-based group called Compassion & Choices (talk about euphemisms!). The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month in a Bush administration challenge to Oregon’s assisted suicide law. In anticipation of the coverage this event will inspire, C&C wants everybody to stop saying “assisted suicide” and start saying “assisted dying.” C&C’s term may be a creepy-sounding euphemism, but it’s presumably better than calling suicide by its proper name because doing so, the group contends, might turn public opinion against Oregon’s law.

Really? It might interest C&C to know that people have been referring to Oregon’s law by different names for years. Opponents of assisted suicide could have called the ballot measure “Death to Puppies” back in 1994, and voters would have supported it anyway. They would have turned back an attempt to scuttle the law in 1997 as well. You know why? Because people, who aren’t nearly as dumb as C&C seems to think they are, recognize that the concept is what matters, not the name.

C&C’s campaign to put “assisted suicide” 6 feet under is still worth watching, though. Heck, if it’s successful, it might even be worth copying. We wouldn’t be a bit surprised if supporters of capital punishment were looking around for a term that sounds a little less stark than “execution,” and “assisted dying” might just fit the bill. One good euthanism deserves another, after all.