Bob Joyce: "Details of Mass. assisted-suicide bill raise concerns"

http://articles.boston.com/2012-04-20/letters/31366522_1_assisted-suicide-bill-ballot-question-life-ending-drugs

THIS STORY APPEARED IN the Boston Globe, April 20, 2012

I was glad to see that lawmakers in Vermont defeated an assisted suicide bill similar to the pending ballot question initiative here in Massachusetts. The article bringing the good news, however, risks conveying an inaccurate impression about how the Massachusetts proposal would work (“Mass. group hails defeat of Vermont suicide bill,” Boston.com, April 14).

The article suggests that the proposed ballot question would allow patients to “self-administer” life-ending drugs. The use of this term could lead the casual reader to think that self-administration is required. It is not. I am a lawyer who has read the proposal. It merely states that a patient “may” self-administer the lethal dose. There is no requirement that administration must be by self-administration.

Also of concern is the fact that the proposal does not require that administration be by disinterested people. Disinterested witnesses are also not required. These factors increase the risk of elder abuse by heirs and other people who stand to benefit from the death.

As a lawyer who has seen my older clients abused, I am hopeful that this Massachusetts proposal will follow the Vermont proposal to the grave.

Robert W. Joyce

Newton

A "Doctor & Heir Protection Bill"

By Margaret Dore

On April 2, 2012, the Attorney General issued draft ballot question title and draft yes/no statements for the assisted suicide initiative.  Below please find my objection based on the initiative's being a doctor and heir protection bill.  For a print copy, please click here.  

I.  INTRODUCTION
The proposed act in Petition 11-12 protects persons who cause or assist the death and/or suicide of another person.  This memo discusses why the draft title and one-sentence statements for the act are misleading and should be amended.


II.  THE ACT


A.  The Act Protects People who Cause or Assist a Patient’s Death and/or Suicide


Under current law, people who cause or assist another person’s death or suicide face serious legal consequences.  They can be convicted of a crime, including murder.[1]  They can be found civilly liable for assisting a suicide, committing malpractice and/or causing a wrongful death.[2]  They can also be deprived of an inheritance or life insurance proceeds payable due to the death.[3] 


With the proposed act, however, persons who cause or assist another person’s death and/or suicide are protected from these consequences.  The act also opens the door to new paths of elder abuse.


How the act works, some of its protections and how it will promote elder abuse are described below.