http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Assisted+suicide+easily+abused/5525325/story.html
By John Coppard, Times ColonistOctober 9, 2011
Re: "Assisted dying should be an option," Oct. 4.
The danger in legalizing assisted suicide is that people's choices can so easily be undermined and abused. Whether it's greedy relatives hoping to speed up their inheritance, or cash-strapped bureaucrats looking to save on health-care costs, the weak and vulnerable can be all-tooeasily steered toward a death they do not truly want.
In Oregon, where physician-assisted suicide is legal and the government health plan is empowered to steer patients to suicide, two cases have gained public prominence - Barbara Wagner and Randy Stroup. Both wanted treatment, but their plan offered them suicide instead. Canadian laws prohibiting assisted suicide exist for a reason. Let's keep it that way.
John Coppard Victoria
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Vermont: Bennington Banner: Suicide choice is an illusion
Posted: 10/10/2011 10:26:03 PM EDT
Monday October 10, 2011
This letter responds to Dr. Guerrero's letter referring to an upcoming assisted suicide bill, which he discusses in terms of providing patient choice. Last March, I did a legal analysis of two assisted-suicide bills that were pending in your legislature. I previously analyzed two similar bills introduced in 2009.
None of these bills assured patient choice or control over their deaths. For example, there was no required supervision over administration of the lethal dose. The death was not even required to be witnessed. This created the opportunity for an heir, or someone else who would benefit from the patient's death, to administer the lethal dose to the patient without his consent. Even if he struggled, who would know?
To view my most recent analysis, go here: http://www.choiceillusionvermont.org/p/2011-bills.html To view my prior analysis, see Physician-Assisted Suicide: "A Recipe for Elder Abuse and the Illusion of Personal Choice," Vermont Bar Journal, winter 2011, available at www.vtbar.org/Images/Journal/journalarticles/winter2011/PhysicianAssistedSuicide.pdf .
Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation www.margaretdore.com [should be www.choiceillusion.org ]
MARGARET K. DORE
Seattle, Wash.
Monday October 10, 2011
This letter responds to Dr. Guerrero's letter referring to an upcoming assisted suicide bill, which he discusses in terms of providing patient choice. Last March, I did a legal analysis of two assisted-suicide bills that were pending in your legislature. I previously analyzed two similar bills introduced in 2009.
None of these bills assured patient choice or control over their deaths. For example, there was no required supervision over administration of the lethal dose. The death was not even required to be witnessed. This created the opportunity for an heir, or someone else who would benefit from the patient's death, to administer the lethal dose to the patient without his consent. Even if he struggled, who would know?
To view my most recent analysis, go here: http://www.choiceillusionvermont.org/p/2011-bills.html To view my prior analysis, see Physician-Assisted Suicide: "A Recipe for Elder Abuse and the Illusion of Personal Choice," Vermont Bar Journal, winter 2011, available at www.vtbar.org/Images/Journal/journalarticles/winter2011/PhysicianAssistedSuicide.pdf .
Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation www.margaretdore.com [should be www.choiceillusion.org ]
MARGARET K. DORE
Seattle, Wash.
Vermont: Don't Make Oregon's Mistake
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/opinion/ci_19077890
Posted: 10/09/2011 09:32:49 PM EDT, Sunday October 9, 2011
I am a doctor in Oregon where physician-assisted suicide is legal. Dr. Richard Guerrero's letter justifies his support of assisted suicide with a discussion of physical pain (Sept. 30).
In Oregon, there has never been a documented case of assisted suicide used because there was actual untreatable pain.
One of the first times I discussed assisted suicide with a patient was with a man in a wheelchair with a progressive form of multiple sclerosis who asked me for assistance with his suicide. I told him that I could readily understand his fear and his frustration and even his belief that assisted suicide might be a good path for him.
At the same time, I told him that should he become sicker or weaker, I would work to give him the best care and support available. I told him that no matter how debilitated he might become, that, at least to me, his life was, and would always be, inherently valuable. As such, I would not recommend, nor could I participate in his suicide. He simply said: "Thank you."
How we respond to someone requesting suicide can either reflect the person's inherent worth or can cause the person even deeper desperation. Patients can even feel pressured to proceed simply due to how we respond. For this reason alone, the deaths may not be voluntary. Don't make Oregon's mistake.
WILLIAM L. TOFFLER, MD
Friday, October 7, 2011
Hawaii: Oops, they did it again! Mainland suicide law proponents back in Hawaii
BY KAREN DICOSTANZO - Oops, they did it again! Mainland suicide law proponents descended on Hawaii this week for a panel discussion hosted by Rep. Blake Oshiro and sponsored by Honolulu Star-Advertiser. As before, they used misinformation to bolster their claim that physician assisted suicide is "already legal" in Hawaii.
Of course, this begs the question: If physician assisted suicide is "already legal" in Hawaii, why have suicide law proponents been trying--unsuccessfully--to legalize it for the past 10 years?The "panel" for the panel discussion consisted solely of suicide activists, so this was not a bona fide effort to air opinions from both sides and maintain balance. Rather, this was meant as a PR stunt to create a news story and arouse public interest in their cause.
Suicide law proponents are using a 1909 Hawaii law as a basis for their assertions, claiming the law allows doctors to administer lethal drugs upon patient request. In fact, this law was written to allow doctors to administer non-traditional/herbal drugs in battling such illnesses as Hansen's Disease (leprosy), tuberculousis, and asthma.
It is obvious that by grasping at straws such as this, their argument is indeed weak. Nevertheless, using equally weak arguments, physician assisted suicide was legalized in states like Oregon and Washington. We need to act now to counter these ridiculous claims and protect the public from these false reports.
Of course, this begs the question: If physician assisted suicide is "already legal" in Hawaii, why have suicide law proponents been trying--unsuccessfully--to legalize it for the past 10 years?The "panel" for the panel discussion consisted solely of suicide activists, so this was not a bona fide effort to air opinions from both sides and maintain balance. Rather, this was meant as a PR stunt to create a news story and arouse public interest in their cause.
Suicide law proponents are using a 1909 Hawaii law as a basis for their assertions, claiming the law allows doctors to administer lethal drugs upon patient request. In fact, this law was written to allow doctors to administer non-traditional/herbal drugs in battling such illnesses as Hansen's Disease (leprosy), tuberculousis, and asthma.
It is obvious that by grasping at straws such as this, their argument is indeed weak. Nevertheless, using equally weak arguments, physician assisted suicide was legalized in states like Oregon and Washington. We need to act now to counter these ridiculous claims and protect the public from these false reports.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Hawaii: Assisted Suicide is Still Not Legal
By Margaret Dore
Barbara Coombs Lee has a new article on Huffington Post, claiming that physician-assisted suicide ("aid in dying") is legal in Hawaii. This is an odd claim given that bills to legalize assisted suicide in Hawaii have repeatedly failed, most recently this year.[1]
Coombs Lee's article begins with a discussion of melting snow, moves on to a panel of experts, focuses on Montana and then finally discusses the law of Hawaii.[2] With regard to Hawaii, her arguments are similar to those presented in a brief drafted by Kathryn Tucker, which was apparently removed from the internet after I published a critique of the arguments presented.[3]
* * *
1. On February 7, 2011, SB 803 was defeated in Committee 4 to 0. See Hawaii Legislative website at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2011/lists/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=803
2. Barbara Coombs Lee, "Hawaii: The Latest State Where Doctors Can Provide Aid in Dying," Huffington Post, October 6, 2011, available here.
3. See: Margaret Dore, "Hawaii: Assisted Suicide is not 'Already Legal,'" September 21, 2011, available at http://www.choiceillusion.org/2011/09/hawaii-assisted-suicide-is-not-already.html#more and Kathryn Tucker, "End-of-life Law and Policy in Hawaii Aid in Dying," as of September 20, 2011, available at http://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/tucker-brief_0011.pdf
2. Barbara Coombs Lee, "Hawaii: The Latest State Where Doctors Can Provide Aid in Dying," Huffington Post, October 6, 2011, available here.
3. See: Margaret Dore, "Hawaii: Assisted Suicide is not 'Already Legal,'" September 21, 2011, available at http://www.choiceillusion.org/2011/09/hawaii-assisted-suicide-is-not-already.html#more and Kathryn Tucker, "End-of-life Law and Policy in Hawaii Aid in Dying," as of September 20, 2011, available at http://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/tucker-brief_0011.pdf
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Boston Globe: She pushed for legal right to die, and - thankfully - was rebuffed
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2011/10/04/she_pushed_for_legal_right_to_die_and___thankfully___was_rebuffed/
I DISAGREE with Scot Lehigh’s Sept. 23 column, which characterizes assisted suicide as only involving people who are going to die in “a few months or weeks’’ (“Death with dignity in Mass.,’’ Op-ed). I am a retired person living in Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal. Our law was enacted through a ballot initiative that I voted for. In 2000, I was diagnosed with cancer and told that I had six months to a year to live.
I DISAGREE with Scot Lehigh’s Sept. 23 column, which characterizes assisted suicide as only involving people who are going to die in “a few months or weeks’’ (“Death with dignity in Mass.,’’ Op-ed). I am a retired person living in Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal. Our law was enacted through a ballot initiative that I voted for. In 2000, I was diagnosed with cancer and told that I had six months to a year to live.
I knew that our law had passed, but I didn’t know exactly how to go about making use of it. I tried to ask my doctor, but he didn’t really answer me. I didn’t want to suffer. I wanted to do what our law allowed, and I wanted my doctor to help me. Instead, he encouraged me not to give up, and ultimately I decided to fight the disease. I had both chemotherapy and radiation.
I am so happy to be alive! It is now 11 years later.
I am so happy to be alive! It is now 11 years later.
If my doctor had believed in assisted suicide, I would be dead. I thank him and all my doctors for helping me to choose “life with dignity.’’
Assisted suicide should not be legal. I hope Massachusetts does not make this terrible mistake.
Jeanette Hall
King City, Ore.
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