Assisted Suicide Bill Dies in Committee!

From Second Thoughts, Massachusetts, People with Disabilities Opposing the Legalization of Assisted Suicide:

Today, the Joint Committee on Public Health, of the Massachusetts Legislature, "declined to advance H.1999 the latest assisted suicide bill, H 1991, euphemistically titled 'An act affirming a terminally ill patient's right to compassionate aid in dying.' Disability rights advocates, along with representatives from medicine and members of the public, testified and lobbied against the bill."

The written testimony of Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, is summarized below:

H.1991 is similar to Ballot Question 2, which was defeated by a vote of the people in 2012. This memo and its attachments discuss why H.1991 is a recipe for elder abuse. Passage will also cause family trauma, and encourage people with years to live to throw away their lives....  Even if you are for the concept of assisted suicide, H.1991 is the wrong bill.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this defeat possible!

Please consider a generous donation to Second Thoughts, Choice is an Illusion or your local group fighting against the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia.

We are need your support!

Choice is an Illusion

Dore Letter to Joint Committee on Public Health

I am a lawyer in Washington State where assisted suicide is legal.  I am also president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia. 

H.1991 is a promoted as assuring patient control, which it doesn't do.  Key problems include the following:

• Someone else is allowed to speak for the patient during the lethal dose request process. 
• The term, "self-administer," allows someone else to administer the lethal dose to the patient 
• There is no oversight at the death: Even if the patient struggled against administration, who would know?
• The death certificate is required to be falsified to reflect a natural death, which prevents perpetrators from being prosecuted even in a straight up murder for the money.

In short, the bill allows the perfect crime.

Here is a link to my memo explaining the bill's problems in more detail.  Even if you are for the concept of assisted suicide, H.1991 is the wrong bill.  http://www.massagainstassistedsuicide.org/2015/10/dore-memo-opposing-h1991.html 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA
Law Offices of Margaret K. Dore, P.S.
Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation
www.margaretdore.com
www.choiceillusion.org
1001 4th Avenue, Suite 4400
Seattle WA  98154

Dore Memo Opposing H.1991

H.1991 is similar to Ballot Question 2, which was defeated by a vote of the people in 2012.  This memo and its attachments discusses why H.1991 is a recipe for elder abuse.  Passage will also cause family trauma, and encourage people with years to live to throw away their lives.  There are other problems.  Even if you are for the concept of assisted suicide, H.1991 is the wrong bill.

Margaret Dore

Young Man Actively Suicidal After Watching Brittany Maynard Video

Dear Legislators:

I am a doctor whose young adult patient became actively suicidal after watching a  Brittany Maynard video.

I urge you to vote against legalizing assisted suicide so as to not encourage other young adults to seek this path.  

In the first week of December 2014, a mother brought in her twenty year old son for an emergency appointment.  She had told me that he had been acting oddly and talking about death.

During the appointment, I asked the young man if he had a plan.  He said “yes” that he had watched Ms. Maynard’s video, that he was very impressed and identified with her and that he thought it was a good idea for him to die like her.  He also told me that after watching the video he had been surfing the internet looking for ways to obtain suicide drugs.

He was actively suicidal and agreed to go to the hospital, where he stayed for five weeks until it was determined that he was sufficiently safe from self-harm to go home.

Legal assisted suicide sends the wrong message to young people.  I urge you to vote "no" on H.1991.

Thank you.

Will Johnston MD

Gisele M. Comeau, M.D
Williard P. Johnston, M.D.
Family Physicians
Vancouver, BC Canada

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
10.  The Waltham News Tribune - Endorsement: 'Death with dignity' is not good enough

Question 2 will put the vulnerable at risk

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinions/letters_to_the_editor/x1272750569/Coiro-Question-2-will-put-vulnerable-at-risk#ixzz2BCKQGRss

Dear Editor:

The desire "not to be a burden," has been part of all five suicides I have experienced as a priest.  Pre-death interviews in Oregon and Washington show that those who make use of Physician Assisted Suicide there often state the desire "not to be a burden" as their primary motivation.  Not suffering, but rather the challenge of being dependent on the aid of others.

The greatest misconception about legalizing Assisted Suicide is that it is strictly about giving individuals the right to make choices for themselves - that it will not impact others.  The reality is that once suicide is introduced as a legal option in some circumstances, it becomes a more acceptable and likely option for society as a whole.  Consider Oregon.  Oregon passed doctor-assisted suicide in 1994.  Now, suicide is the leading cause of "injury death" there, and the second leading cause of death among 15 to 34 year olds.  The suicide rate in Oregon, which had been in decline before 1994, is now 35 percent higher than the national average.

As one who ministers to the dying and the depressed, I am deeply concerned that if passed, Question 2 will put many more vulnerable persons at risk.  Do you know a teen, or family member, or coworker who suffers from depression?  A yes vote for Question Two would tell those individuals that yes, sometimes the deliberate taking of one's own life is an appropriate choice.  On their behalf, please join in defeating Question 2.

 REV. MARK J. COIRO

Pastor, St. Mary's, HollistonRead more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinions/letters_to_the_editor/x1272750569/Coiro-Question-2-will-put-vulnerable-at-risk#ixzz2BCKQGRss