http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/position-changed-with-evidence/article%20406ec244-237a-5cca-b240-1f2b407b49f3.html
October 24, 2014 6:30 am
I am a former legislator and a lawyer who at one
time favored permitting physician-assisted suicide, but changed my position
after looking at the evidence.
William Clarke is wrong about the legality
of assisted suicide, and his definition of suicide, as described in his
letter of Oct. 15. Physician-assisted suicide is against the law in Montana
and killing oneself is suicide regardless of your health.
The present law
is the Baxter case, which says that under certain circumstances a physician who
assisted someone to kill herself/himself has a defense to a charge of homicide.
It is a defense if the doctor is charged with homicide, that does not make it
legal. If the doctor is charged with homicide and can convince a jury of certain
facts, he or she will not be convicted. If the doctor fails to do so, he or she is convicted of a
felony. Of course, there is the civil liability of the doctor, which is not
addressed at all by Clarke.
Legalizing physician-assisted suicide will
lead to elder abuse and other problems. The American Medical Association is against
physician-assisted suicide for the same reason I am. It will lead to abuse of
the elderly and others who are infirm, mentally or physically, but not really
“terminally ill.” As an example, the much-touted
Oregon law allows ordinary diabetes to be considered a terminally ill disease
Jim Shockley,
Victor
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Friday, October 24, 2014
MAAS' Demand Letter to People Magazine: "The risk of suicide contagion is real. The potential victims include children."
Dear Editor:
People Magazine’s coverage of Brittany Maynard breaks all recommended media guidelines for responsible reporting of suicide. The risk of suicide contagion is real. The potential victims include children.
It is well known that media reporting of suicide can encourage other suicides, sometimes called "copycat suicides," or more generally, a "suicide contagion." A famous example is Marilyn Monroe, whose suicide death led to a suicide spike.
This encouragement phenomenon can also occur when the inspiring death is not a suicide. An example is the televised hanging of Saddam Hussein, which led to suicide deaths of children worldwide. An NBC News article begins:
Your coverage of Brittany Maynard is, of course, exponentially more intense and of broader range than that of Marilyn Monroe or Saddam Hussein.
As a major media organization, you are expected to be familiar with recommended guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicide. Important points include that the risk of additional suicides increases "when the story explicitly describes the suicide method, uses dramatic/graphic headlines or images, and repeated/extensive coverage." See http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention/recommendations-for-reporting-on-suicide.shtml
Your coverage of Brittany Maynard's upcoming death violates all of these guidelines. We are told of the planned method, when and where it will take place and who will be there. There is repeated extensive coverage in multiple media. Your website says that the story has gone "viral."
Meanwhile, People Magazine, in grocery stores everywhere, with children in line, glorifies Ms. Maynard's upcoming death. Her photo is on the cover; she's beautiful and now she's one of your celebrities. In big white letters, there is this headline: "My Decision to Die." There are also these words, also in white, simple enough for a child to understand: "Why Brittany Maynard, 29, plans to end her life in less that three weeks."
According to your publication, Ms. Maynard is going to kill herself, and if you don't do something to change this suicide promotion trajectory, so will many other people.
Now you can write me back, and say, "Oh, but Ms. Maynard's not suicidal, it's different."
Saddam Hussein wasn't suicidal and it wasn't different. Those boys died.
My client, Montanans Against Assisted Suicide, hereby demands the following:
Sincerely,
Margaret Dore,
Attorney for Montanans Against Assisted Suicide (MAAS)
Law Offices of Margaret K. Dore, P.S.
www.margaretdore.com
1001 4th Avenue, 44th Floor
Seattle, WA 98154
206 389 1754 main reception
206 389 1562 direct line
People Magazine’s coverage of Brittany Maynard breaks all recommended media guidelines for responsible reporting of suicide. The risk of suicide contagion is real. The potential victims include children.
It is well known that media reporting of suicide can encourage other suicides, sometimes called "copycat suicides," or more generally, a "suicide contagion." A famous example is Marilyn Monroe, whose suicide death led to a suicide spike.
This encouragement phenomenon can also occur when the inspiring death is not a suicide. An example is the televised hanging of Saddam Hussein, which led to suicide deaths of children worldwide. An NBC News article begins:
The boys' deaths - scattered in the United States, in Yemen, in Turkey and elsewhere in seemingly isolated horror - had one thing in common: They hanged themselves after watching televised images of Saddam Hussein's execution.http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16624940/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/copycat-hangings-follow-saddam-execution/#.VDr5AfldWS
Your coverage of Brittany Maynard is, of course, exponentially more intense and of broader range than that of Marilyn Monroe or Saddam Hussein.
As a major media organization, you are expected to be familiar with recommended guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicide. Important points include that the risk of additional suicides increases "when the story explicitly describes the suicide method, uses dramatic/graphic headlines or images, and repeated/extensive coverage." See http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention/recommendations-for-reporting-on-suicide.shtml
Your coverage of Brittany Maynard's upcoming death violates all of these guidelines. We are told of the planned method, when and where it will take place and who will be there. There is repeated extensive coverage in multiple media. Your website says that the story has gone "viral."
Meanwhile, People Magazine, in grocery stores everywhere, with children in line, glorifies Ms. Maynard's upcoming death. Her photo is on the cover; she's beautiful and now she's one of your celebrities. In big white letters, there is this headline: "My Decision to Die." There are also these words, also in white, simple enough for a child to understand: "Why Brittany Maynard, 29, plans to end her life in less that three weeks."
According to your publication, Ms. Maynard is going to kill herself, and if you don't do something to change this suicide promotion trajectory, so will many other people.
Now you can write me back, and say, "Oh, but Ms. Maynard's not suicidal, it's different."
Saddam Hussein wasn't suicidal and it wasn't different. Those boys died.
My client, Montanans Against Assisted Suicide, hereby demands the following:
1. That you immediately cease and desist your suicide promotion activity, which means removing all glorifying content from your website, grocery stores, wherever;
2. That you immediately add suicide prevention content to your publications, including where to call for help; and
3. That you in no shape or form promote Ms. Maynard's suicide if and when it occurs.People Magazine celebrates the heroes among us. It's time for People Magazine to show its integrity by this time being the hero among us to stop the contagion.
Sincerely,
Margaret Dore,
Attorney for Montanans Against Assisted Suicide (MAAS)
Law Offices of Margaret K. Dore, P.S.
www.margaretdore.com
1001 4th Avenue, 44th Floor
Seattle, WA 98154
206 389 1754 main reception
206 389 1562 direct line
Thursday, October 9, 2014
"This is how society will pay you back? With non-voluntary or involuntary euthanasia?"
Assisted suicide discussion veering into talk of terminating lives on non-terminal people
I am a lawyer in Washington State, where assisted suicide is legal. Our law was passed by a deceptive ballot measure spearheaded by Compassion & Choices. Voters were promised that only the patient would be allowed to administer the lethal dose, which is false. Our law does say that the patient may self-administer the lethal dose, but there is no language saying that administration must be by self-administration. For more information, please go here: https://www.kcba.org/newsevents/barbulletin/BView.aspx?Month=05&Year=2009&AID=article5.htm
Once assisted suicide is legal, there is pressure to expand. For example, here in Washington State, we have had “trial balloon” proposals to expand our law to non-terminal people. For me, the most disturbing one was a casual discussion in our largest paper suggesting euthanasia for people who didn’t save enough money for their old age. So, if you worked hard all your life, paid your taxes, and your pension plan went broke, this is how society will pay you back? With non-voluntary or involuntary euthanasia?
To view a copy of the newspaper column, please go here: https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/jerry-large_001.pdf.
Protect yourselves and your families. Don’t let assisted suicide become legal in Montana.
This is how society will pay you back? With non-voluntary or involuntary euthanasia?
I am a lawyer in Washington State, where assisted suicide is legal. Our law was passed by a deceptive ballot measure spearheaded by Compassion & Choices. Voters were promised that only the patient would be allowed to administer the lethal dose, which is false. Our law does say that the patient may self-administer the lethal dose, but there is no language saying that administration must be by self-administration. For more information, please go here: https://www.kcba.org/newsevents/barbulletin/BView.aspx?Month=05&Year=2009&AID=article5.htm
Once assisted suicide is legal, there is pressure to expand. For example, here in Washington State, we have had “trial balloon” proposals to expand our law to non-terminal people. For me, the most disturbing one was a casual discussion in our largest paper suggesting euthanasia for people who didn’t save enough money for their old age. So, if you worked hard all your life, paid your taxes, and your pension plan went broke, this is how society will pay you back? With non-voluntary or involuntary euthanasia?
To view a copy of the newspaper column, please go here: https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/jerry-large_001.pdf.
I never heard anyone talk like this before our assisted suicide law was passed.
Protect yourselves and your families. Don’t let assisted suicide become legal in Montana.
Margaret Dore, president,
Seattle, Washington
Monday, October 6, 2014
Assisters Can Have Their Own Agenda
http://ravallirepublic.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_d9ec8917-b025-5aad-97dd-0520559fde00.html
Greed, personal motives can influence 'choice' to commit assisted suicide . . .
A Roundup man was recently charged with “aiding or soliciting suicide” of a 16-year-old girl here in Montana. His apparent motive was to prevent her testimony against him in another matter, i.e., by getting her to kill herself. According to an Associate Press article, he coerced her to actually take steps towards that goal, which fortunately did not result in her death. See http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/convicted-rapist-charged-with-aiding-or-soliciting-suicide-of-victim/article_65c2f39c-ae01-5104-a279-da45b352ef42.html
Similarly, in Minnesota, a former nurse was recently convicted of assisting a young man to kill himself. Both the nurse and the Roundup man had used webcams to communicate with their victims. The nurse’s reported motive was the “thrill of the chase.” See http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/suicideobsessed-us-nurse-convicted-of-helping-coventry-man-kill-himself-9722534.html.
These stories illustrates a fundamental problem with legalizing assisted suicide. The assisting person can have his or her own agenda to encourage a person to kill themselves. The “choice” will not necessarily be that of the victim/patient.
In my practice, where I have a high percentage of older patients, I have witnessed greed by family members over inheritances, including vicious battles over the death bed. This same motive of greed could lead to a coerced suicide, especially if assisted suicide were legalized in our state.
Let’s keep legal assisted suicide out of Montana.
Annie Bukacek,
Kalispell
Greed, personal motives can influence 'choice' to commit assisted suicide . . .
A Roundup man was recently charged with “aiding or soliciting suicide” of a 16-year-old girl here in Montana. His apparent motive was to prevent her testimony against him in another matter, i.e., by getting her to kill herself. According to an Associate Press article, he coerced her to actually take steps towards that goal, which fortunately did not result in her death. See http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/convicted-rapist-charged-with-aiding-or-soliciting-suicide-of-victim/article_65c2f39c-ae01-5104-a279-da45b352ef42.html
Similarly, in Minnesota, a former nurse was recently convicted of assisting a young man to kill himself. Both the nurse and the Roundup man had used webcams to communicate with their victims. The nurse’s reported motive was the “thrill of the chase.” See http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/suicideobsessed-us-nurse-convicted-of-helping-coventry-man-kill-himself-9722534.html.
These stories illustrates a fundamental problem with legalizing assisted suicide. The assisting person can have his or her own agenda to encourage a person to kill themselves. The “choice” will not necessarily be that of the victim/patient.
In my practice, where I have a high percentage of older patients, I have witnessed greed by family members over inheritances, including vicious battles over the death bed. This same motive of greed could lead to a coerced suicide, especially if assisted suicide were legalized in our state.
Let’s keep legal assisted suicide out of Montana.
Annie Bukacek,
Kalispell
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Assisters Can Have Their Own Agenda
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-assisted-suicide-20141005,0,1813199.story
Brad Williams makes a good point about the problems with legalizing assisted suicide, one of them being that people assisting a suicide may have their own agenda ("The perils of assisted suicide," Oct. 2).
Mr. Williams gives the example of a recent Montana case in which a man is accused of encouraging a teenage girl to kill herself in order to prevent her from testifying against him in a rape trial.
I am a doctor in Oregon, one of the few states in which physician-assisted suicide is legal. In this context, assisters with an agenda include our state's Medicaid program, which uses coverage incentives to steer patients to suicide.
The program will pay for a patient's suicide but will not necessarily pay for the patient's treatment to cure a disease or to extend the patient's life.
In other words, with the legalization of assisted suicide, the "treatment" of suicide is displacing desired treatments to cure or to extend life.
I first became aware of such issues in 1982, shortly before my first wife died of cancer. We had just visited her doctor. As we were leaving, he had suggested that she overdose herself on medication.
I still remember the look of horror on her face. She said, "Ken, he wants me to kill myself."
We must protect our health care system from such abuses. Citizens should tell their legislators and other public officials to say no to assisted-suicide.
Kenneth Stevens, Sherwood, Ore.
Brad Williams makes a good point about the problems with legalizing assisted suicide, one of them being that people assisting a suicide may have their own agenda ("The perils of assisted suicide," Oct. 2).
Mr. Williams gives the example of a recent Montana case in which a man is accused of encouraging a teenage girl to kill herself in order to prevent her from testifying against him in a rape trial.
I am a doctor in Oregon, one of the few states in which physician-assisted suicide is legal. In this context, assisters with an agenda include our state's Medicaid program, which uses coverage incentives to steer patients to suicide.
The program will pay for a patient's suicide but will not necessarily pay for the patient's treatment to cure a disease or to extend the patient's life.
In other words, with the legalization of assisted suicide, the "treatment" of suicide is displacing desired treatments to cure or to extend life.
I first became aware of such issues in 1982, shortly before my first wife died of cancer. We had just visited her doctor. As we were leaving, he had suggested that she overdose herself on medication.
I still remember the look of horror on her face. She said, "Ken, he wants me to kill myself."
We must protect our health care system from such abuses. Citizens should tell their legislators and other public officials to say no to assisted-suicide.
Kenneth Stevens, Sherwood, Ore.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Assisted suicide has broader application to people who aren't at "end of life"
http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/assisted-suicide-has-broader-application-to-people-who-aren-t/article_ac55a646-3843-11e4-a89b-001a4bcf887a.html
I was,
however, disappointed with the headline given to Friesen’s letter, which
implies that assisted suicide legalization only affects people at the
“end of life.” This is not true for at least two reasons.
First, in places where legalization has been proposed, “eligibility” requirements are not limited to people at the end of life. Consider, for example, Montana’s Baxter case where Compassion & Choices proposed legal assisted suicide for “terminally ill adult patients.” A formal opinion letter by Dr. Richard Wonderly and attorney Theresa Schrempp attaches a two-page copy of that proposal and states:
Second, even if an assisted suicide law is limited to persons expected to die in a short time, there is the problem that predictions of life expectancy can be wrong. I have seen this in my own practice.
Consider also John Norton, who was diagnosed with ALS and told that he would get progressively worse (be paralyzed) and die in three to five years. He instead has a “wonderful life” 57 years later. His affidavit states:
Havre
First, in places where legalization has been proposed, “eligibility” requirements are not limited to people at the end of life. Consider, for example, Montana’s Baxter case where Compassion & Choices proposed legal assisted suicide for “terminally ill adult patients.” A formal opinion letter by Dr. Richard Wonderly and attorney Theresa Schrempp attaches a two-page copy of that proposal and states:
“Shockingly, this definition is broad enough to include an 18-year-old who is insulin dependent or . . . a young adult with stable HIV/AIDS. Each of these patients could live for decades with appropriate medical treatment. Yet, they are “terminally ill” according to the definition promoted by advocates of assisted suicide.”
http://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/schrempp_wonderly_opn_ltr1.pdf
Second, even if an assisted suicide law is limited to persons expected to die in a short time, there is the problem that predictions of life expectancy can be wrong. I have seen this in my own practice.
Consider also John Norton, who was diagnosed with ALS and told that he would get progressively worse (be paralyzed) and die in three to five years. He instead has a “wonderful life” 57 years later. His affidavit states:
“If assisted suicide or euthanasia had been available to me in the 1950s, I would have missed the bulk of my life and my life yet to come.“
https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/signed-john-norton-affidavit_001.pdfCarley C. Robertson,
Havre
Friday, September 19, 2014
Convicted rapist charged with ‘aiding or soliciting suicide’ of victim
http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/convicted-rapist-charged-with-aiding-or-soliciting-suicide-of-victim/article_65c2f39c-ae01-5104-a279-da45b352ef42.html
September 18, 2014 6:00 am •
Last week, the Musselshell County Attorney’s Office charged Michael John Morlan, 21, with aiding or soliciting suicide, and two other felonies — intimidation and tampering with witnesses and informants.
It is unclear whether anyone has ever been charged with or convicted of aiding or soliciting suicide in Montana. Musselshell County Attorney Kent M. Sipe was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Charging documents say Morlan contacted the girl, who is now 16 years old, via Skype, an online video-chatting service, on Sept. 1, 2013, and told her to kill herself while he watched.
The documents say Morlan told her he wanted to watch so that he could make sure she was doing it right.
The alleged victim reported to law enforcement that when she started crying, Morlan told her to stop wasting air and get it over with.
Court records, quoting the alleged victim, detail a back-and-forth conversation between the two in which Morlan repeatedly told her to kill herself and pressured her to continue as she cut herself and took prescription anti-depressants.
When she started cutting her wrists, Morlan told her to cut deeper, she said. The girl said she had prescription anti-depressants and put them in her hand. When she did this, she said, Morlan told her to take all of them.
She said she took the pills and then panicked, disconnected the Skype call and went to her parents for help.
About a year prior to this incident, Morlan had been charged with two felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent involving the same girl.
The charges alleged that Morlan had a sexual relationship with her from April 2011 — when she was 12 years old — through July 2012 and that he admitted to law enforcement that he digitally penetrated the girl on July 25, 2012.
Morlan was apparently out of jail after posting bond at the time he is accused of trying to coerce the girl to kill herself.
The girl reported that in August 2013, Morlan stalked and intimidated her when she tried to avoid communication with him.
She said he threatened to make her life miserable if she went to police and told her he had people watching her.
The girl told investigators that while at the youth center in Roundup a person, identified in charging documents as B.K., came up to her and told her to “quit telling everyone that Mickey raped you.”
In November, Morlan pleaded guilty to the two rape charges. District Judge Randal I. Spaulding sentenced him to 15 years in prison, with eight years suspended.
The judge also revoked Morlan’s sentence in a 2011 felony drug distribution case and sentenced him to an additional five-year commitment.
Morlan, who is being held at the state prison, is scheduled for arraignment in Musselshell County District Court on Sept. 22.
Aiding or soliciting suicide caries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Oregon doctor's experience leads him to warn Montanans not to accept assisted suicide
http://ravallirepublic.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_df457041-2d8f-5c56-92c8-05d08616234d.html
The opinion piece correctly describes how Oregon’s Medicaid program uses coverage incentives to steer people to assisted suicide, which is legal in Oregon: Medicaid will not necessarily cover a patient’s treatment to potentially cure a disease or to extend the patient’s life. The program will cover his or her suicide. Desired treatments for cure or to extend life are thereby displaced with the “treatment” of suicide.
I first became involved with the assisted suicide issue shortly before my first wife died of cancer in 1982. We had just made what would be her last visit with her doctor. As we were leaving, he had suggested that she overdose herself on medication. I still remember the look of horror on her face. She said, “Ken, he wants me to kill myself.”
To learn more about how assisted suicide works in Oregon, please see my affidavit, with supporting documentation attached, can be viewed here: https://maasdocuments.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/dr-stevens-affidavit_001.pdf .
Protect your health care. Don’t let legal assisted suicide come to Montana.
Kenneth Stevens,
Sherwood, Oregon
Friday, September 5, 2014
Ted Friesen Published!
Dear Editor:
I was glad to see the August 21 opinion piece disputing the false claim that assisted suicide is legal in Montana.
I retired from the Motion Picture Pension and Health Plans in Studio City, California, as the chief financial officer. One reason that I retired to Montana was that I had the perception that it was senior-citizen friendly, unlike Oregon and Washington, which have adopted laws allowing doctors and family members to assist them in killing themselves. That was repugnant to me.
Of course, now that I am in Montana, I find myself in a state targeted for the legalization of assisted suicide/euthanasia by the former Hemlock Society, now known as Compassion & Choices.
With the opinion piece describing the additional mission of that organization to discourage patient cures and to defend Medicaid against individual patient choices, I see that I have even more reason to be concerned about that organization’s agenda.
I have also read the opinion piece by Compassion & Choices President Barbara Combs Lee, which can be viewed at this link: maasdocuments.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/barbaracoombsleeagainstwagner1.pdf.
Therein, Combs Lee not only discourages individual choices and defends Medicaid, she effectively argues that she and her organization know better than individual patients acting in conjunction with their doctors (page 2, paragraph 3). While I recognize that doctors can at times be wrong and not make the best decision, I don’t want her or her organization making decisions for me. It’s my life.
Let’s keep assisted suicide, euthanasia and the rest of Compassion & Choices’ agenda out of Montana.
Ted Friesen, Bigfork
Monday, August 25, 2014
Legalization of 'assisted suicide' leading to increase in reports of involuntary deaths
http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/legalization-of-assisted-suicide-leading-to-increase-in-reports-of/article_5d456780-2975-11e4-a660-0019bb2963f4.html
I am president of the Hospice Patients Alliance. We are a charitable patient advocacy organization acting to preserve the original hospice mission to promote quality care at the end of a person’s life. I am writing in response to Gail Bell’s letter describing medical personnel over-reaching which caused the death of her mother. [To view Gail Bell's letter, go here ]
A hidden and disturbing issue that I see in my work is the misuse of “terminal,” “palliative” and/or “total” sedation to end the life of a patient who is not otherwise dying, often instigated by a family member who stands to gain.
Consider the 2012 case against Kaiser Health Care. According to an article describing court documents, doctors killed the patient, a wealthy older man, in four hours and 40 minutes through a “terminal extubation,” which included a morphine overdose that “effectively ended oxygen support.” The patient’s daughters had allegedly urged this result in order to obtain large inheritances. See William Dotinga, “Grim Complaint Against Kaiser Hospital,” Feb. 6, 2012, available at www.courthousenews.com/2012/02/06/43641.htm. Moreover, per the article, court documents say that the doctors’ actions “caused the death of a relatively healthy, wealthy man with many more years to live and love.“
In some cases, the imposed death is due to a doctor’s assessment of the patient’s “quality of life” as opposed to the patient’s desire to live. This is often the case if the patient is disabled or elderly, or declared incompetent. Assisted “suicide” in these cases is clearly imposed death.
With the push to legalize assisted suicide, I have seen increased reports of involuntary deaths. Now, Bell’s report.
Death with dignity is never achieved by imposing death through “stealth euthanasia” or assisted suicide.
Ron Panzer, president,
Hospice Patients Alliance,
Rockford, Michigan
I am president of the Hospice Patients Alliance. We are a charitable patient advocacy organization acting to preserve the original hospice mission to promote quality care at the end of a person’s life. I am writing in response to Gail Bell’s letter describing medical personnel over-reaching which caused the death of her mother. [To view Gail Bell's letter, go here ]
A hidden and disturbing issue that I see in my work is the misuse of “terminal,” “palliative” and/or “total” sedation to end the life of a patient who is not otherwise dying, often instigated by a family member who stands to gain.
Consider the 2012 case against Kaiser Health Care. According to an article describing court documents, doctors killed the patient, a wealthy older man, in four hours and 40 minutes through a “terminal extubation,” which included a morphine overdose that “effectively ended oxygen support.” The patient’s daughters had allegedly urged this result in order to obtain large inheritances. See William Dotinga, “Grim Complaint Against Kaiser Hospital,” Feb. 6, 2012, available at www.courthousenews.com/2012/02/06/43641.htm. Moreover, per the article, court documents say that the doctors’ actions “caused the death of a relatively healthy, wealthy man with many more years to live and love.“
In some cases, the imposed death is due to a doctor’s assessment of the patient’s “quality of life” as opposed to the patient’s desire to live. This is often the case if the patient is disabled or elderly, or declared incompetent. Assisted “suicide” in these cases is clearly imposed death.
With the push to legalize assisted suicide, I have seen increased reports of involuntary deaths. Now, Bell’s report.
Death with dignity is never achieved by imposing death through “stealth euthanasia” or assisted suicide.
Ron Panzer, president,
Hospice Patients Alliance,
Rockford, Michigan
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Montana's Law Protected Me
http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/physician-assisted-suicide-no-support-from-this-quadriplegic/article_96fd887e-1e47-11e4-8c4c-001a4bcf887a.html
I have read the guest column, "People living with disabilities support death with dignity" (July 25), which advocates for legalizing assisted suicide and/or euthanasia for the disabled. I could be described as such a person and this opinion does not speak for me. I am strongly against legalizing these practices.
I have read the guest column, "People living with disabilities support death with dignity" (July 25), which advocates for legalizing assisted suicide and/or euthanasia for the disabled. I could be described as such a person and this opinion does not speak for me. I am strongly against legalizing these practices.
When I was in high school, I was on track to get a basketball scholarship to college. And then, I was in a car accident. The accident left me in a wheelchair, a quadriplegic. In addition to my paralysis, I had other difficulties. Over the next two or three years, I gave serious thought to suicide. And I had the means to do it, but both times I got close, I stopped myself.
If instead, my doctor, an authority figure, had told me that ending my life was a rational course, there might have been a different result. If instead, he had given me a lethal dose to ingest or offered to euthanize me, I might have gone along with it. But assisted suicide and euthanasia were not legal in Montana. Such courses were off the table.
So, instead, I went to college to seek a degree in education. While in college, I participated in wheelchair racing at the state, national and international levels. I met my husband and 21 years later the honeymoon is not over. We have three beautiful daughters and a new baby granddaughter. I am also active in my community.
Montana's law protected me and I hope it will stay in place to continue to protect me and others as we go through the sometimes hard times of life.
Assisted suicide and euthanasia should not be legal.
Lucinda Hardy, Columbia Falls
Lucinda Hardy: Montana's Law Protected Me
 |
| Racing Wheelchair |
I have read the guest column, "People living with disabilities support death with dignity" (July 25), which advocates for legalizing assisted suicide and/or euthanasia for the disabled. I could be described as such a person and this opinion does not speak for me. I am strongly against legalizing these practices.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Mother's death provided painful, personal example of need to stop assisted suicide
 |
| "Others dictated for her." |
The July 25 guest column by Sara Myers and Dustin Hankinson begins with a discussion of pain, “great pain,” specifically. The paragraph goes on to use the phrase “great pain” to justify “death with dignity,” meaning assisted suicide and euthanasia.
With their column, I couldn’t help but think of my mother’s last years and the decision of others that it was time for her to die. Pain was used as a justification for increases in her medication – to get the job done. This happened three times before she finally died in the hospital on Sept. 6, 2010. The coroner’s report, case No. 100906, lists the cause of death as congestive heart failure with oxygen deprivation and “fentanyl therapy.” The manner of death is listed as “accident.”
Monday, July 7, 2014
In Montana, Elder Abuse a Growing Concern
http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/booming/elder-abuse-a-growing-concern/article_8b895eb2-0210-11e4-bf33-001a4bcf887a.html
July 03, 2014 7:45 am •
July 03, 2014 7:45 am •
Did you know that every day 10,000 people turn 65 in the United States? According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that trend is going to continue for nearly the next 20 years.
At the same time this population is growing, we know that a startling number of elders face abusive conditions. Every year an estimated 5 million older Americans are victims of abuse, neglect or exploitation.
But that’s only part of the picture. Experts believe that for every case of elder abuse or neglect reported, about 24 cases go unreported. The U.S. census predicts that by 2015 Montana will have the nation’s fourth-oldest population and that by 2025, 25 percent of Montana will be 65 or older. By 2030, the number is expected to double.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Protect your health care; keep assisted suicide out of Montana
http://missoulian.com/news/opinion/mailbag/protect-your-health-care-keep-assisted-suicide-out-of-montana/article_80004bcc-ae06-11e3-99f7-001a4bcf887a.html
I am a doctor in Oregon,
where physician assisted suicide is legal. I have been following the
ongoing attempt to legalize assisted suicide in Montana.
I was first exposed to this issue in 1982 shortly before my first wife died of cancer. We had just visited her doctor. As we were leaving, he had suggested that she overdose herself on medication. I still remember the look of horror on her face. She said “Ken, he wants me to kill myself.“
In Oregon, the combination of assisted-suicide legalization and prioritized medical care based on prognosis has created a danger for my patients on the Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid). Helpful treatments are often not covered. The plan will cover the patient’s suicide. For more detail, please read my affidavit filed on behalf of the Canadian government at http://maasdocuments.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/signed-stevens-aff-9-18-12.pdf
Our assisted suicide law was passed in 1997. In 2000, one of my patients was adamant she would use our law. I stalled her and ultimately convinced her to be treated instead. Nearly 14 years later she is thrilled to be alive.
Protect your health care, yourselves and your families. I urge you to tell your elected officials to keep assisted suicide out of Montana.
Kenneth Stevens,
Sherwood, Ore.
I was first exposed to this issue in 1982 shortly before my first wife died of cancer. We had just visited her doctor. As we were leaving, he had suggested that she overdose herself on medication. I still remember the look of horror on her face. She said “Ken, he wants me to kill myself.“
In Oregon, the combination of assisted-suicide legalization and prioritized medical care based on prognosis has created a danger for my patients on the Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid). Helpful treatments are often not covered. The plan will cover the patient’s suicide. For more detail, please read my affidavit filed on behalf of the Canadian government at http://maasdocuments.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/signed-stevens-aff-9-18-12.pdf
Our assisted suicide law was passed in 1997. In 2000, one of my patients was adamant she would use our law. I stalled her and ultimately convinced her to be treated instead. Nearly 14 years later she is thrilled to be alive.
Protect your health care, yourselves and your families. I urge you to tell your elected officials to keep assisted suicide out of Montana.
Kenneth Stevens,
Sherwood, Ore.
Monday, February 24, 2014
"My concerns about legalizing assisted suicide include that it will encourage 'lazy doctoring.'”
http://helenair.com/news/opinion/readers_alley/against-physician-assisted-suicide/article_7b17e3b6-9b57-11e3-ab51-001a4bcf887a.html
I am a general medical
practitioner, with 30 years experience. I was glad to see that Montanans
Against Assisted Suicide has decided to appeal its case with the
Montana Medical Examiner Board to the Montana Supreme Court. My hope is
that the appeal will end the controversy about assisted suicide possibly
being legal in Montana.
My concerns about legalizing assisted suicide include that it will encourage “lazy doctoring.” I say this because it is easier for a doctor to write a prescription (to end the patient’s life,) as opposed to doing the sometimes hard work of figuring out what is wrong with a patient and providing treatment. I am also concerned that legalization will give bad doctors the opportunity to hide malpractice by convincing a patient to take his or her life.
The American Medical Association, Ethics Opinion No. 2.211, states: “Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.”
I agree with this statement. Allowing legalization of physician-assisted suicide in Montana will compromise and corrupt my profession. Legalization will also put the lives and well-being of my patients at risk.
Carley C. Robertson, MD
Havre MT
My concerns about legalizing assisted suicide include that it will encourage “lazy doctoring.” I say this because it is easier for a doctor to write a prescription (to end the patient’s life,) as opposed to doing the sometimes hard work of figuring out what is wrong with a patient and providing treatment. I am also concerned that legalization will give bad doctors the opportunity to hide malpractice by convincing a patient to take his or her life.
The American Medical Association, Ethics Opinion No. 2.211, states: “Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.”
I agree with this statement. Allowing legalization of physician-assisted suicide in Montana will compromise and corrupt my profession. Legalization will also put the lives and well-being of my patients at risk.
Carley C. Robertson, MD
Havre MT
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Supreme Court must decide suicide issue
I have been following the assisted suicide issue closely for the previous several years. I am happy to see that Montanans Against Assisted Suicide is appealing its court case to the Montana Supreme Court. In the past two legislative sessions there have been bills brought before the House and the Senate for and against legalizing assisted suicide. Compassion and Choices [the former Hemlock Society] claims that assisted suicide is already legal in the state (it is not). That false rhetoric has carried to other news mediums, out-of-state legislative bodies and the general public . . . .
We need clarification on this issue once and for all. The Montana Medical Board of Examiners conduct in adopting their position paper, implying that assisted suicide is legal, was a dreadful overstep of its authority, complicated by failing to give public notice regarding the issue. [See MAAS petition here]
This issue will not go away until the Supreme Court undoes the mess it made with Baxter and resolves the issue by reversing the Baxter decision. The medical profession still has the respect of society. We must not allow that respect to be destroyed by putting this kind of power in the hands of doctors. Doctors can be wrong, yet the doctor is the one who ultimately will decide whether that patient is ready to die or not. This will change medical practice as we know it forever; the trust factor between patient and doctor will be destroyed.
Dr. David W. Hafer
Dayton, MT
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