Federal Palliative Care Euthanasia Bill Moving

By Margaret Dore, Esq.

On January 17, 2019, the "Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act" was introduced in the 116th Congress as H.R. 647 and referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. No text was provided.

The Congressional website has since been updated with the posting of a complete bill, which is identical, or nearly identical, to last session's H.R. 1676, as amended. (The companion bill was S. 693).

Massachusetts Court Upholds Manslaughter Conviction for Woman Who Assisted Boyfriend's Suicide

Conrad Roy 

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Massachusetts High Court upheld the voluntary manslaughter conviction of Michelle Carter for assisting the suicide of Conrad Roy who was 18 at the time of his death. Carter, who was 17 at the time of the death, was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Utah Bill Legalizing Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia Likely Dead for 2019

Click here to view source article.

by Bob Bernick, Contributing Editor - Utah Policy.Com

A Democratic-sponsored, end of life bill is, for now, dead in the Utah Legislature.

The House Rules Committee, voting along partisan lines, refused Thursday to allow HB121 to be heard by a standing committee – thus killing the bill unless at a later date Rules members change their minds....

Unless House Democrats can get enough floor votes to lift HB121 from Rules (not likely), or unless Republicans on Rules change their minds (that could happen), end of life legislation is dead in the 2019 Legislature, before the first week is even over. 

Vote "No" on New Mexico Euthanasia Act

Click here for a pdf version to use as a handout

1.  The Act

The Act  (HB 90 as amended, and SB 153) seeks to legalize medical “aid in dying,” a traditional euphemism for active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.[1]

2.  Who is Especially at Risk?

Individuals with money, meaning the middle class and above.

3.  Assisting Persons Can Have an Agenda

Persons assisting a suicide or euthanasia can have an agenda. Consider Tammy Sawyer, trustee for Thomas Middleton in Oregon, which has a similar law. Two days after his death by legal assisted suicide, she sold his home and deposited the proceeds into bank accounts for her own benefit.[2] Consider also Graham Morant, recently convicted of counseling his wife to kill herself in Australia, to get the life insurance. The Court found:

[Y]ou counseled and aided your wife to kill herself because you wanted ... the 1.4 million.[3]

New Bill to Overturn Montana's Baxter Decision

Rep. Glimm

HOUSE BILL NO. 284

INTRODUCED BY C. GLIMM

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT PROVIDING THAT CONSENT TO PHYSICIAN AID IN DYING IS NOT A DEFENSE TO A CHARGE OF HOMICIDE; AMENDING SECTION 45-2-211, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE."

US "Palliative" Care Act has Been Reintroduced

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

The "Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act," formerly S. 693 and H.R. 1676, has been reintroduced in the 116th Congress as H.R. 647. I did not see a Senate version. The full text is not yet available.

The prior Act, if passed into law, would have undermined the Office of the Inspector General's (OIG's) mission to combat Medicare and Medicaid fraud concerning the federal hospice benefit. See https://www.choiceillusion.org/2018/10/memo-to-us-senate-committee-on-health.html The Act was also a "springing" or closet euthanasia bill:

Delaware: New Bill Seeking to Legalize Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

There is a new bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia, as those terms are traditionally defined, in Delaware.

Click here to view the text, sorry no bill number yet.

Margaret Dore

New Site Opposing Closet Euthanasia

Today, Choice is an Illusion formally announces the launching of  "End the Abuse," a website opposed to palliative care and hospice abuse.

The site specifically addresses problems with the closet euthanasia act proposed in last year's 115th Congress, the so-called "Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act."

We hope that you find the site helpful.

Federal Closet Euthanasia Act May Be Moving

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

Five days ago, an op-ed appeared in the New York Post advocating for Congressional passage of the "Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act."[1] The Act has not been introduced in the current (116th) Congress.[2] There are, however, rumors that it will be or that passage will occur by packaging it with other legislation. With the appearance of the op-ed, the veracity of these rumors is well founded.

The Act was introduced in the last (115th) Congress as H.R. 1676 and S. 693. Its stated purpose was to provide financial support for palliative care and hospice education centers, including direct patient care. The Act easily passed the House on a voice vote.[3]

There was and is, however, a catch.

US Euthanasia Bill All But Dead - For Now

Margaret Dore &
Dawn Eskew

This year, the US Congress considered the "Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act," bills H.R. 1676 and S. 693. The Act seeks to provide financial support for palliative care and hospice education centers, including direct patient care.

The Act was viewed as noncontroversial. Indeed, H.R. 1676 passed the House on a voice vote without opposition.

There is, however, a catch.

This is because US euthanasia advocates are currently promoting "medical aid in dying" (euthanasia) as "palliative care."[1] There is a similar situation in Canada, where "lobbies are trying to influence the government to include so-called Medical Aid in Dying ... in palliative care."[2]

The significance is this: If the Act is passed into law and the above advocacy efforts are successful, medical aid in dying (euthanasia) will become part of palliative care and therefore part of the Act. More to the point, the Act will legalize and also finance euthanasia in government funded centers throughout the US. The Act is a closet or "springing" euthanasia bill.

Dore Memo to New Zealand Justice Committee: Reject End of Life Choice Bill

Click here to view a pdf version, including supporting documentation. Click the following link to view Choice Illusion New Zealand.

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

I.  INTRODUCTION

I am president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia.[1] I am also an attorney in Washington State USA where these practices are legal.[2] Our law is based on a similar law in Oregon.[3]

My background includes providing legal analysis and/or testimony against assisted suicide and euthanasia, in 22 US states, South Africa and Australia. I have participated in public debates as well as public interest litigation.

The “End of Life Choice Bill” seeks to legalize assisted dying, which means assisted suicide and euthanasia.[4] If enacted, the bill will apply to people with years or decades to live, and provide cover for murder. I urge you to recommend to Parliament to reject this bill.