Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Massachusetts Euthanasia Bills Have Reportedly Moved Out of Committee

State House
According to unconfirmed sources, the Massachusetts "End of Life Options Act," seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia, has advanced out of the Joint Committee on Public Health to the Healthcare Finance Committee (S. 1208/H. 1926).

To learn more about problems with the Act, please see the legal/policy analysis below. If you have further information as to the exact status of the bills, please write me at margaretdore @ margaretdore.com  Thank you.

Margaret Dore, Esq.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Disability Group Welcomes Ruling Against Right to Assisted Suicide in Massachusetts

To view whole article, click here.

.- Second Thoughts Massachusetts, a disability rights group, has praised a recent ruling that there is not a right to assisted suicide in the state's law or its constitution.
In a decision dated Dec. 31, 2019, Justice Mary Ames of the Suffolk Superior Court ruled that physicians who prescribe lethal medication for assisted suicide in Massachusetts can be prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter, but that physicians may provide information and advice on assisted suicide to terminally ill, competent adults.
“We are gratified that the court reaffirmed the law against assisted suicide, and referred the matter to the legislature where lawmaking belongs. Disability rights advocates will continue to press the legislature that assisted suicide is just too dangerous,” John Kelly, director of Second Thoughts, commented Jan. 13.

Monday, June 24, 2019

Reject End of Life Option Act, H.1926 and S.1208

Click here to view pdf version.

I. INTRODUCTION

I am an attorney in Washington State where assisted suicide is legal.[1] The proposed bills seek to legalize “aid in dying,” a traditional euphemism for active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.[2]

Most states reject these practices.[3] Other states have strengthened their laws against them.[4] If enacted, the bills will apply to people with years or decades to live. Individuals with money, meaning the middle class and above, will be especially at risk. I urge you to reject the proposed bills.

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

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.

Friday, September 21, 2018

"Death with Dignity" Collapses Under Scrutiny

John Kelly
Click here to read published version.

I write to respond to the oped by John Berkowitz and three Western Massachusetts legislators in support of assisted suicide bill H.1994 (Eagle, Sept. 11).

Unsolvable problems with assisted suicide include the fact that terminal diagnoses are often wrong. Studies show that between 13 percent and 20 percent of people so diagnosed are not dying, and may live years or even decades longer. As examples, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy lived a full year longer than his terminal diagnosis of two to four months, while Florence resident John Norton credits the unavailability of assisted suicide for decades of good life after a mistaken prognosis.

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Prosecutors argue why Michelle Carter's texting suicide conviction should not be overturned

Michelle Carter
To view full article, click here

Bristol County Prosecutors have filed their response to the appeal of Michelle Carter, arguing that the Plainville woman was rightfully convicted of involuntary manslaughter for pressuring her boyfriend Conrad Roy III into killing himself.

Roy died in 2014 after he turned on a gas-powered water pump in his truck and allowed the cabin to fill with carbon monoxide, following a lengthy battle with depression.

But police found text messages on Carter's phone that led them to believe it was no simple suicide.