Papers Say NO to Question 2

1.  The Boston Globe:  End-of-life discussions, care should come before Question 2 
2.  The Cape Cod Times - Vote No on Question 2
3.  The Salem News - Our View: No on Question 2
4.  The Worchester Telegram and Gazette - Vote "No" on Question 2
5.  The Boston Herald - No on Question 2
6.  The New Bedford Standard Times - Our View: Death with Dignity law fatally flawed
7.  The Bay State Banner - Vote No on Question 2
8.  The Lowell Sun - Vote No on Question 2
9.  The Springfield Republic - recommend voting “no” on Question 2, physician-assisted suicide

Mayor, Full Council Oppose Assisted Suicide Question

http://waltham.patch.com/articles/mayor-full-council-oppose-assisted-suicide-question

The following was submitted by City Councilor Diane LeBlanc.

Mayor Jeannette McCarthy and the City’s 15 Councilors will be voting No on Question 2 and they are urging Waltham residents and residents across the state to do the same.  While it is not common for elected officials to speak out on ballot questions, they are making an exception because of the life and death issue at stake, and what they unanimously agree, are gross flaws in the proposed law.

Support plunges for assisted suicide question

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1757123000/Support-plunges-for-assisted-suicide-question


By Laura Krantz

Support has plummeted for a ballot question to legalize assisted suicide, a poll released Tuesday shows.
Support for the Death with Dignity measure waned from 64 percent to 47 percent since a similar poll was released last month.

Fourty-one percent of voters oppose it, according to the Suffolk University/7News poll, giving the question only a six-point lead compared to the 37 point advantage it had six weeks ago.

The poll surveyed 600 likely voters using live telephone interviews of landline and cell phone users and reported a 4 percent margin of error.

Killing with kindness: Why the Death With Dignity Act endangers people with disabilities

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/146648-killing-with-kindness-why-the-death-with-dignity-/#ixzz2AvS5wlXH

 By S.J. Rosenbaum

I think my opinions about doctor-assisted suicide crystallized the night Mike — my wheelchair-using, ventilator-breathing boyfriend — choked on pineapple juice, passed out, and died.

He was dead for several minutes, on a steel table in the ER. The doctor shocked the pulse back into his heart and dropped him into an induced coma, but it still wasn't clear whether he would make it. As I stood by his bedside, shaking, one of the nurses touched me on the shoulder.

"Maybe it's better this way," she murmured.

I'll never forget that moment. We'd been watching a movie together a few hours before. We had plans to go clubbing. Maybe it's better this way?

I'm not a violent person, but I wanted to punch that lady in the face.

NY Times: Suicide by Choice? Not so Fast

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/opinion/suicide-by-choice-not-so-fast.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print

October 31, 2012

By BEN MATTLIN

NEXT week, voters in Massachusetts will decide whether to adopt an assisted-suicide law. As a good pro-choice liberal, I ought to support the effort. But as a lifelong disabled person, I cannot.

There are solid arguments in favor. No one will be coerced into taking a poison pill, supporters insist. The “right to die” will apply only to those with six months to live or less. Doctors will take into account the possibility of depression. There is no slippery slope.

Fair enough, but I remain skeptical. There’s been scant evidence of abuse so far in Oregon [and] Washington . . . , the [two] states where physician-assisted death is already legal, but abuse — whether spousal, child or elder — is notoriously underreported, and evidence is difficult to come by. What’s more, Massachusetts registered nearly 20,000 cases of elder abuse in 2010 alone.

Massachusetts Papers Voting NO

1.  The Cape Cod Times - Vote No on Question 2
2.  The Salem News - Our View: No on Question 2
3.  The Worchester Telegram and Gazette - Vote "No" on Question 2
4.  The Boston Herald - No on Question 2
5.  The New Bedford Standard Times - Our View: Death with Dignity law fatally flawed
6.  The Bay State Banner - Vote No on Question 2
7.  The Lowell Sun - Vote No on Question 2