AUGUSTA, MAINE, UNITED STATES
Dore: “The proposed bill is a recipe for abuse, exploitation and legal murder.”
“Persons assisting a suicide or performing a euthanasia can have an agenda to benefit themselves.”
Contact: Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA
(206) 697-1217
Attorney Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has fought assisted suicide and euthanasia legalization efforts in many states, and now Maine, made the following statement in connection with a scheduled hearing on a bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in that state. (Bill LD 1313 , H.P. 948). Hearing Wednesday, 04/10/19, 9:00 A.M., Joint Committee on Health & Human Services, Cross Building, Room 209, State Capitol, Augusta Maine.
“The proposed ‘Death with Dignity’ Act seeks to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined, “ said Dore. “If passed into law, it will apply to people with years or decades to live.”
Dore explained, “The Act is based on a similar laws in Oregon and Washington State, applying
to people with a terminal disease expected to result in death within six months. In practice, such predictions are often wrong. This is due to actual mistakes and the fact that predicting life expectancy is not an exact science."
"Perhaps more importantly.” said Dore, “the six months to live is determined without treatment. In Oregon, chronic conditions such as diabetes are listed in official government reports as sufficient for assisted suicide. This is because without insulin, the typical insulin dependent diabetic will live less than a month. With insulin, such persons can have years or decades to live.”
“Persons assisting a suicide or performing a euthanasia can have an agenda to benefit themselves.” said Dore. “Consider Tammy Sawyer, trustee for Thomas Middleton in Oregon. Two days after his death by legal assisted suicide, she sold his home and deposited the proceeds into bank accounts for her own benefit. Consider also Graham Morant, convicted last year of counseling his wife to kill herself in Australia, to get the life insurance.”
Dore added, “Medical professionals too can have an agenda. Michael Swango, MD, now incarcerated, got a thrill from killing his patients. Consider also Harold Shipman, a doctor in the UK, who not only killed his patients, but stole from them and in one case made himself a beneficiary of the patient’s will.”
“The proposed Maine bill has no required oversight over administration of the lethal dose,” said Dore. “The death is allowed to occur in private without witnesses. The drugs used are water or alcohol soluble, such that they can be injected into a sleeping or restrained person without consent. If the person objected or even struggled, who would know?”
Dore said, “The bill says that the patient’s death certificate “must list the underlying terminal disease as the cause of death, not a lethal dose.” This will create a legal inability to prosecute criminal behavior, for example, in the case of an outright murder for the money. The official cause of death will be a terminal disease. The bill, if enacted, will create a perfect crime.”
“Consider also a 2005 article in the UK’s Guardian newspaper regarding a public inquiry of Dr. Shipman’s conduct,” said Dore. “The inquiry determined that he ‘killed at least 250 of his patients over 23 years.’ The inquiry also found ‘that by issuing death certificates stating natural causes, the serial killer [Shipman] was able to evade investigation by coroners.’”
Dore continued, “According to a subsequent article in 2015, proposed reforms included having a medical examiner review death certificates, so as to improve patient safety. Instead, the proposed bill moves in the opposite direction to require legal coverup as a matter of law.”
Dore concluded, “If the Maine bill becomes law, there will be new paths of lethal abuse and exploitation, especially for older people with money or assets, meaning the middle class and above. They will be sitting ducks to their heirs and other predators. Even if you like the concept of assisted suicide and euthanasia, the proposed bill is a recipe for abuse, exploitation and legal murder.”
For more information, see: Margaret Dore, “Say ‘No’ to Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia”
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