Assisted Suicide On Ballot In Wash. State

Voters To Decide Whether To Allow Doctors To Prescribe Lethal Medication To The Terminally Ill

(AP)  The emotionally charged battle over end-of-life decisions has taken to the airwaves as Washington state voters decide whether to allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients.

Recent TV and radio ads by opponents feature actor Martin Sheen, who calls the measure a "dangerous idea" that could be used by the most vulnerable in society. Supporters are on TV with an ad spotlighting a widow who says it lets those who are suffering have control over their final days.

With both sides having raised a combined $3.5 million, much of it still unspent, more ads are expected in the coming weeks.

The measure would allow physicians in Washington State to help terminally ill patients end their lives. Oregon, where voters first approved the idea in 1994, is the only state with such a law.

A recent poll by independent pollster Stuart Elway found that the measure was popular, with 57 percent of voters polled supporting it and 33 percent opposed. That poll, conducted in September, showed 10 percent still undecided, while 16 percent were leaning "yes" and 10 percent were leaning "no."

"It really is a matter of personal decisions and having the freedom to make your own decisions about end-of-life care," said Anne Martens, spokeswoman for Yes on I-1000.

Todd Donovan, political scientist at Western Washington University, said he wasn't surprised that Initiative 1000, also known as the "Washington Death with Dignity Initiative," is polling well.

"There is that libertarian streak in the northwest that it sort of taps into," he said.

The measure is strongly opposed by religious groups, and Catholic church officials said their opposition shouldn't surprise anyone.

"Our teaching has always been in favor of life," said Sister Sharon Park, executive director of the Washington State Catholic Conference. "The purpose of law is to protect, and this certainly does not protect the vulnerable."

Outside of Oregon, advocates of the idea haven't fared well. California, Michigan and Maine voters rejected the idea, and bills have failed in statehouses around the country. In Washington, voters rejected physician-assisted suicide in 1991.

This year's proposal differs in that it would not allow doctors to administer lethal drugs on behalf of patients who couldn't do so themselves.

Initiative 1000 mirrors the Oregon law, which took effect in 1997 after a lengthy court fight, and would allow the terminally ill to obtain lethal prescription drugs for ending their own lives.

Any patient requesting the fatal medication would have to make two oral requests, 15 days apart, and submit a written request witnessed by two people, including one person who is not a relative, heir, attending doctor, or connected with a health facility where the requester lives.

Critics say assisted suicide laws could exploit depressed or vulnerable people who worry they've become a burden on their families.

"This is not an issue of choice and keeping government out of end-of-life issues," said Chris Carlson, chairman of the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide. "It is a matter of injecting government more into end-of-life issues, and it raises serious questions about who will do the choosing."

Those who support I-1000 say it's a humane choice for those who feel they have no other option.

"The people who choose the law really want to live and have likely been through chemo or surgeries, and now it's to the point where they can no longer choose life," said Arline Hinckley, a social worker who has worked with terminally ill patients and is working with the Yes on I-1000 campaign. "I think the person who can't choose life should have the right to choose the kind of death they want."

Forty-nine people died under the terms of the law last year, according to a report by the Oregon Department of Human Services. Since it went into effect, more than 340 patients have used the law to end their lives.

Most suffered from cancer, and the most common end-of-life reasons they expressed were loss of autonomy, loss of dignity and a decreasing ability to participate in activities they enjoyed.

[smurfcrusher]

They might kill this measure.

[upto1947]

You have got to be kidding. They have raised a combined $3.5 million. Who would waste this mush money on such a dumb thing as Assisted Suicide. If people have money to waste on this, they have to much money, and are idiots.

[shanev137]

I''d have to read the entire thing to be able to tell if this was just a bunch of quackery or not. Assisted Suicide should be legal only if the patient and family members request it and are aware of it. It should not give the state or insurance companies extra powers in killing people they just don''t want to deal with anymore. It''s about personal choice. The government does not have the right to tell me I can''t end my life if I want to.

[carolloving]

This is the most important issue anyone will ever have to face. The 9th Circuit Court ruled Assisted Deaths are legal back in 1996. Washington has this right.

For enlightenment on assisted death and medical tyranny, visit my blog to learn my experiences. CarolLoving.com

I ask you to read My Son, My Sorrow: The Tragic Tale of Dr. Kevorkian''s Youngest Patient. My memoir was published in 1998 by New Horizon Press.

See you...

[luvcomments]

I was disappointed to see Martin Sheen in an ad opposing the bill. I am old, single, no family, somewhat disabled and I don''t feel anybody anywhere has the right to dictate to me or anyone else that we have to die in an endless agony. All that bill would accomplish is making people sure to jump off a cliff while they can still get around instead of living as long as they could before the agony becomes too much What arrogance! And I suppose they believe in mercy, too ! If people want to end up living in hell on earth, they should be free to, and if other people can''t take it any more, they shouldn''t have to. What on earth ever happened to free choice? Even God states that is ours, regardless of what we choose.

[carolloving]

This is the most important issue anyone will ever have to face. The 9th Circuit Court ruled Assisted Deaths are legal back in 1996. Washington has this right.

For enlightenment on assisted death and medical tyranny, visit my blog to learn my experiences. CarolLoving.com

I ask you to read My Son, My Sorrow: The Tragic Tale of Dr. Kevorkian''s Youngest Patient. My memoir was published in 1998 by New Horizon Press.

See you...

[kazoodan]

You have got to be kidding. They have raised a combined $3.5 million. Who would waste this mush money on such a dumb thing as Assisted Suicide. If people have money to waste on this, they have to much money, and are idiots.

Posted by Upto1947 at 03:29 PM : Oct 11, 2008

Even though the world would probably be better off without you, you don''t HAVE to take your own life.

[karela33]

It''s easy to be against a bill like this if you''ve never sat by a bedside and listened to someone beg for death for weeks on end after the point had been reached where the pain medications no longer worked. People should have the right to choose for themselves. If you don''t believe in it, then don''t do it. You can suffer as much as you like at the end. For others who don''t think a person should have to suffer agonies at the end when there is no hope of life, allow people the dignity of making their own choices without having to submit their families to ugly suicides. People have a right to choose for themselves and government can keep out of this private and personal time.

[biggestbtc]

Those who support this measure knowing or unknowingly are trying to take the place of God. Only God has the power over life and death.

[itgranny]

There is nothing that scares me more than a long drawn out death that places my kids in a situation where they feel they need to be at my bedside and watch me suffer for weeks, months, years. I saw what it did to my parents dealing with my grandparents cancer. If i have any choice in the matter, there is no way i''m going to do that to my kids.

[nothappyatall]

The measure is strongly opposed by religious groups, and Catholic church officials said their opposition shouldn''t surprise anyone"

Oh no, NO surprise whatsoever, the church''s history has been a culture of DEATH by torture, violence, hanging, burning at the stake, slavery and more

"Our teaching has always been in favor of life,"

Yeah right- your history shows otherwise sister, aside from that, when a patient is in the LAST STAGES of an obviously TERMINAL disease then it is nothing less than torture and cruelty to force them to stay here riddled with pain that can''t be controlled or being drugged into a stupor or near coma to control it- that''s not life it''s a culture of DEATH by torture.

[dixxson-2009]

You usually pay for your excesses. Dr Kevorkian released from prison, a weak frail broken old man.
He''s immediately set upon by the press
and Michael Vick''s Right wing Hypocrits
Labeling him DR Death. A Dr whom never had a dissatisfied patient or complaint. Really" But the real irony
There are millions of Us" who could be
Justifiably" fitted with that Label.
Mainly The ones calling him that Name!
Kevorkian Kills-----Zero
Name Caller''s Kills-----Millions
Libya, Panama, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, on and on".

[me4prezz]

The key here, people, is terminal illness. They are going to die...not if...but when. If these people choose to die with dignity and having the opportunity of a quality life at the end, then that is their choice and no one should tell them to live in agony.

For God''s sake, if a horse breaks a leg, we put it down to end its suffering, but because we can keep people artifically alive now and can give drug after drug after drug, we place a higher priority of quantity and not nearly enough on quality!

[bizzybirdy]

I am Catholic, my mother was Catholic. The priest came and gave her last rites (what it was called then, ''91). She suffered with colon cancer that spread to her bones in agony for 7 weeks screaming for an end, for someone to please help her die with dignity. She was bedridden or would have found a way herself and I was afraid of the consequences (jail) for helping her. This was a TERRIBLE way for a wonderful person to die...and I only hope that a measure like this is passed in ALL states, if not I will move to one where it is when my time is near. I do NOT want to suffer as she did, no one should. Cannot understand my church''s "take" on this at all. I had one of cats euthanized; my mom should have been worth the same consideration. :-(

[lastdance127]

The Federal Government has always shown a
Positive Attitude in : Forcing or Assisting Suicide

The FBI through an act of Political Nepotism and Fraternization
Will Ignore, The Criminal Complaints of :
Murder / Homicide by Medical Neglect

The Viet-Nam Combatant Suicide Rate
1.6 Million Veterans either fought in combat, provided close support or
were at least fairly regularly exposed to enemy attack.

1.6 million - 58000 Vietnam deaths =
1,542000 Vietnam Combatants Returned home.

In 1980 five years after the war ended
A report given by the Veterans Administration in Milwaukee, WI.
Claimed that the combination of suicide and suicide induced accidents.
Committed by the Viet-Nam combatant, was at fifty two percent. (52%)

52% of 1542000 = : 801,840
801,840 Suicide and Suicide induced accidents had taken place
since the war had began.

801,840 w 16 years = 5,012 Suicides per year
5,012 w 52 weeks = 96 Suicides each week for 16 (sixteen) years
5,012 w 365 days = 14 Suicides each day for 16 years
14 w 24 hours = 1 Suicide every 1 hour and 17 minutes
All day and all night long for 16 (sixteen) years

No report from The Veterans Administration
Concerning the Deaths from Medical Experiments or
an account of : The Deaths Resulting From Drug Experiments
Which has been Practiced on Unknowing and Unwitting Patients

Murder / Homicide through Medical Neglect

The FBI through an act of : Political Nepotism
Will Refuse to Acknowledge or Accept a Criminal Complaint

[ubrew12]

Title: "Assisted Suicide On Ballot In Wash. State"

I thought the Ballot was how this country was committing suicide without assistance?

[I mean, look at the ''leaders'' we elect with it]

[dkhorse1]

Here''s a simpler solution, don''t seek medical attention!
They can''t keep you alive longer then GOD intended if you don''t go to a doctor.

Doctors can''t hook you up to equipment that keeps you alive unnecessarily if you don''t go in, or prescribe medications to prolong the inevitable.

Then no need for a suicide initiative.

[babooph]

Too bad -wrong Washington.

[airboatboy1]

It''s strange that if you had a dog that was suffering and didn''t put it to sleep you could get arrested for animal cruelty, but your supposed to let humans suffer? Doesn''t make much sense to me.

[toolmangler-2009]

Doctors can''''t hook you up to equipment that keeps you alive unnecessarily if you don''''t go in, or prescribe medications to prolong the inevitable.
Then no need for a suicide initiative.
Posted by dkhorse1 at 11:05 PM : Oct 11, 2008



you have never witnessed a burn victm, or cancer patient suffer just before they died, I know this because if you had, you never in your life would have made that statement. I don''t hope it ever happens to you, but if it did you would have gained a different viewpoint!!!!

[akpals]

I agree with you tool mangler. You can''t describe the desperation you feel while watching one die in so much pain and misery. Why is it so wrong to prescribe a drug that lets a dying person go before things are so dire.
I wonder though, are they going to address children and the mentally handicapped in this?