Thursday October 9, 2008, 8:24 pm
Washington Aid-in-Dying Initiative 1000:

This initiative would allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults who have six months or less to live the legal choice to access and self-administer life-ending medication. Eligible patients would have the option to make a voluntary, legal, informed and personal decision with their physician and their families, and with numerous safeguards to protect the patient from abuse.

Patients in the final stages of a terminal disease would have the choice to end their life with dignity, on their own terms. Under current law, the government interferes to prevent terminally ill patients who face a lingering and painful death from making this humane, legitimate end-of-life choice. Under I-1000, the proposed death with dignity law, a terminally ill patient would be allowed to make a voluntary, legal, informed, and personal decision about their own body.

The Washington initiative mirrors Oregon's "Death with Dignity" Act. Voters in Oregon passed an identical law by initiative over ten years ago. The text of the Washington initiative is based on the Oregon law, which has proved to be very safe and effective.

Status: 320,000 signatures gathered qualifying the initiative for the November 2008 ballot.

Saturday October 11, 2008, 12:48 am
People who really care about their friends and family would never vote for I-1000. Instead of handing terminally ill and depressed people a bottle of pills we should be surrounding them with love and support and demanding proper pain treatment for them.
We don't know what is going on in Oregon because the program is run by a small group of people that only tells the public what it wants us to know.
I don't want my son, if he were terminally ill, to commit suicide. I would be especially devestated if he had the assistance of medical personell. Can you imagine doctors and nurses helping people to kill themselves!!??
We used to arrest people who yelled "jump, jump, jump" to depressed people standing at the edge of a window in a 30 storey building. I-1000 is not any different from that situation.

Saturday October 11, 2008, 5:23 am

Marsha, even with the best pain treatment available, not all pain can be controlled. And pain medication doesn't help the other aspects of dying, such as weakness, loss of control of bodily functions, and other such lovely things.

I don't know if you have ever witnessed up close and personal a prolonged dying process. I have. Twice. Both my mother and her sister died slowly and agonizingly over many years (it took my mother eight years to die). And they both were nursed at home. That isn't what I want for myself or anyone who I love.

No one wants to yell "jump" to anyone. It's a matter of allowing the patient himself to make the choice - which should always be his right. And for many suicide under those circumstances is a rational choice. And for many it isn't.

I have a feeling that you would never allow a dog or a cat to suffer like that. And yet you would force all humans to go through the same thing - some against their will.

Oregon has quite a few safeguards in place, including waiting periods after the request to make sure that someone isn't just making a hasty decision. And remember - the patient himself must take the overdose himself. No one else is allowed to administer it. So, until the very end, it is entirely in the patient's own hands.

And quite a few people have obtained the drugs - and never used them. They openly said it gave them more peace of mind just knowing that a way out was available if they needed it. And they never needed it.

If you don't want to make that choice for yourself - that's entirely your right. Just don't take that right away from me as well. Because it's my choice too.

Saturday October 11, 2008, 5:29 am
From Compassion and Choices (http://www.compassionandchoices.org/)

"10.7.2008 New Study: All Patients Using Oregon Death with Dignity Act Were Mentally Competent to Make Informed Choice

Patients who received prescriptions LESS anxious or hopeless

Compassion & Choices of Oregon participated in a study of patients seeking aid in dying.

· We are pleased the study found all patients competent to make their own decisions.

· Patients participating in the Death with Dignity Act had LESS anxiety or depression than those who did not receive a prescription and much less than comparable patients in states where Death with Dignity is illegal.

· The study inflates the “depression” felt by terminal patients. Dr. Ganzini admits that her findings of “depression” are inflated by attributing ALL symptoms (loss of appetite, loss of weight and loss of sleep) as signs of depression and not due to the disease that is killing the patient. People dying of cancer will have these symptoms --- depressed or not.

“Based on the circumstances these patients are facing, a certain amount of depression would not be unexpected. In fact, the finding that three quarters of requesting patients have no depression is somewhat surprising,” Linda Ganzini, M.D. M.P.H., the study's lead author.

“The researchers classified some of the patients as 'depressed,' but sadness and anxiety are to be expected in dying patients,” Compassion & Choices President Barbara Coombs Lee said. “The question is not whether dying patients are eating well or have a sunny outlook, but whether they have the judgment to make informed choices. All patients were found competent to do so.”

“Dr. Ganzini's study supports the benefits and safety of the Death with Dignity Act,” commented Dr. E. James Lieberman, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Emeritus, George Washington University School of Medicine. “Only one-sixth of those who receive aid in dying meet criteria for clinical depression. Even those few are not cognitively impaired, meaning they are able to give informed consent, to make a sound decision. How do we know? Because they are certified competent by two physicians. The best 'anti-depressant' is the Death with Dignity Act.”

Dr. Timothy Quill, one of the nation's foremost experts on end of life care and choice, said, “All the patients had the mental capacity to make their health care decisions. The screening tool showed that they 'might be' clinically depressed, but the tools included many physical symptoms that are a natural part of the dying process. The inclusive approach to diagnosing depression will likely identify patients who might be depressed, but this is not the same as identifying depression that is altering judgment.”Dr. Quill is Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry and Medical Humanities in the Center for Ethics, Humanities and Palliative Care at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

Download the study's Depression Checklist here and decide for yourself if it is appropriate to rate a dying cancer or leukemia patient as depressed based on answers to the questions in this checklist."

Saturday October 11, 2008, 5:32 am
"Michael's Story
I was a Deputy Sheriff in California for almost 10 years. I often responded to a call of a suicide at a private residence—a call that was always met with one or more surviving family members totally distraught—at times so greatly that they required medical assistance at that time. The methods were varied and can be shared if needed.

My father died of complications from advanced bone cancer in 1993 in Oregon. He followed his doctor's regiment faithfully and kept a log of medications, times and results. He died in his sleep on July 20th. My mother lived on until 1998. Struggling with the continuing emotional vacancy at the loss of her life partner as well as emphysema she decided to exercise her choice as a strong-minded human being and made the choice to end her life. She informed my 3 brothers and me of this decision. None of us wanted it to happen nor did we agree with her choice—but we were products of strong parents who raised us to take responsibility for our actions. We had to accept and support her choice.

She chose a weekend to gather the boys, some of their wives and children, and we spent 2 days talking about the past, the future, what Mom and Dad really knew about what we did growing up ( things we were sure they had no idea ). We opened and gathered as much information as possible from old photo albums, marveled at the grades Mom and Dad had received in school and college, watched TV shows, listened to music, played hearts—the family card game that Dad was almost unbeatable at—and, even with the inevitable looming everywhere we turned, spent the final hours together. Hours of good memories, not ones of finding our Mother, or receiving a phone call from someone of her being dead from some horrible choice of suicide.

We took photos of us all together for the last time—the anguish shows in some—and then she said it was time. She chose her clothes to wear and had a few private minutes alone. When she called us she was in bed and ready. She drank the morphine we had picked up that afternoon from the pharmacy. Morphine prescribed by a wonderful doctor who really cared for her and us. Although it took much longer than we expected ( 12 hours ) she finally fell asleep and joined her partner in the better world she believed she was entering. She had written a ledger for us to follow after her death and the subsequent difficulties were much less painful.

Writing this brings huge tears and sighs but I treasure the memory of her going to sleep so much more than one of finding her dead in an undignified and demeaning circumstance. My brothers and I will follow the lead of our mother when the time is right for us individually. My daughter is aware of this and also accepts it, albeit reluctantly. I currently live in Washington and, if still here when I make that choice, will follow through with my choice, regardless of any laws contrary. What can they do when I'm gone?

California used to have a law against suicide or attempted suicide. I thought it ludicrous then as I do now - how do you punish the person committing the act? You can't, unless they are unsuccessful but if followed through by the authorities you only punish and insult and harm the surviving family members. If I or my brothers - one in Oregon, another in Washington also and one in Nevada can be of help in this campaign I am willing.

Sincerely, Michael Dodds
Bellingham, WA"

Read more stories at: http://www.compassionandchoices.org/aboutus/stories.php#diane

Saturday October 11, 2008, 5:36 am
"Death Without Dignity, Jean's Story
Ever since my youth I have proclaimed loudly that I’m not afraid of dying. Recently I realized how wrong I was; I’m not afraid of death, but I am afraid of dying. When we have a pet that is suffering, we take it to the vet to have it “put down.” Even a murderer on Death Row gets a merciful death. Why must humans suffer when there is no hope of recovery?

Oregon is the only state sanctioning physicians’ help in suicide for terminally ill patients. In the eight years since this became legal, fewer than 250 people have used the law. The rest of the populace takes comfort in knowing that they have a choice.

On May 19th June, my oldest daughter at 71, had surgery for a brain tumor called glioblastoma multiforme (grade 4) a deadly malignancy with a prognosis of 4 to 6 months without treatment. Chemotherapy makes the patient so sick that the few extra months gained are not worth it. My daughter opted not to have treatment.

During the weeks she lived with me I made her life as easy as possible. However, when the Hospice nurse told her new tumors had developed on the back of her neck, she lost control. She began over-medicating, falling and hurting herself. Breaking my promise to her that she could stay with me until she died, we moved her into a nursing home.

She received good care there, even remarking, “Every-one here is so kind to me.” Her one complaint was the institutional food. When we learned that we could sign her out for a few hours daily, her son, her daughter and I took turns treating her to lunch in good local restaurants. She enjoyed this so much that I thought, “No one looking at us laughing and joking would dream that one of us is dying of brain cancer.”

Then overnight she became bedridden, able only to babble, frustrated because she couldn’t express her thoughts. She slipped in and out of a coma. When we spoke to her she screwed up her face, crying without tears. She mumbled only two intelligible sentences during those weeks: “Why does it take so long?” and, “I didn’t know it would be so hard.”

Now we are praying for her to die. When the Hospice nurse suggested tube feeding because she wasn’t eating, we said, “Absolutely not! She doesn’t want to live.” A morphine patch was placed on her chest to prevent pain. The strain on family members is almost unbearable; we can only stand by and watch her suffer. If we should try to help her die, we would be breaking the law and probably go to prison. June has a Living Will and a “Do Not Resuscitate” order. She expressed her wishes while she was still lucid, but that doesn’t help us to help her.

Our family is fortunate there is MediCal. We don’t have to pay, as June has no funds and no long-term care insurance. Neither her son, her daughter nor I could afford $128 a day for her care—who knows for how long. Luckily for us, the state picks up the tab. Think of the cost to you, the taxpayer! There are thousands of patients rotting away in nursing homes and hospitals in California with no hope of release except death. HMOs pay only a small part of the cost.

My 74-year-old father ended a miserable existence by climbing the George Washington Bridge and dropping over the side, to be smashed on the pavement. Nobody deserves such a death. Why couldn’t he die peacefully with a doctor’s help?

In the past several years California has tried to pass a law similar to Oregon’s. The attempt failed, due to fears of euthanasia, etc. Don’t these people who vote against the law realize that some day their loved ones—or they themselves--might welcome the release such a law can provide? No one should have to choose an end like my father’s or my daughter’s. Death is inevitable—let’s make it easier for those who want help."

Monday October 13, 2008, 10:35 pm
Lindsey --
People are not animals. Thinking that they are leads not to more
compassionate care for animals but to treating human beings like animals.
I understand that dying is not something people want to consider and can be very difficult but killing the person is not the solution.
The stories you published here just confirm the points that opponents of I-1000 are making: other people, NOT the dying person, will help facilitate, administer, encorage and become accomplices to a suicide. They will indeed be standing there saying "jump" or other variations of it like: "do it" or "it won't bother me" or "it's your choice". I-1000 will keep the out of jail and never ask, "why didn't you help this person in their time of need?"
How can a web site that uses the word "care" in its title actually advocate killing as a solution to a problem!? Aren't you tired of the wars where killing is done in the name of peace? Let's stop the killing here in our own country and teach our people how to care for and love those who are on the edge of death; not push them over!

Tuesday October 14, 2008, 5:32 am

Marsha, telling someone that it is their right to decide is not "pushing them over." It is allowing them the dignity of making their own choice. It is recognizing that they are an adult capable of making the decision which is best for them.

Neither you nor anyone else has the right to try and force me to live through suffering I choose to avoid. And many people feel the same. For us it is not the length of life that matters - it is the quality of life with which we are concerned.

Whatever the law may say, if I am suffering and terminal I will choose suicide. If I must handle it violently because no caring physician will help by giving me the means to peacefully end my own life - then that's the way I'll have to handle it. Hopefully I won't have to go that route.

No one is advocating forcing this choice on anyone. It's rather like the pro-choice abortion situation. No one wants to force abortions on any woman. But they do want her to have the choice of what to do with her own body.

Well, so do I want that choice to decide what to do with my own life.

Tuesday October 14, 2008, 5:35 am
And, by the way, Marsha - people ARE animals. We are of the kingdom Animalia, the same as our cats and dogs. We just happen to have what we believe to be a higher intelligence.

Wednesday November 5, 2008, 7:11 am
NEWS FROM COMPASSION AND CHOICES:

"11.4.2008 Washington Voters Approve Death With Dignity Act (58%) Initiative I-1000

Washington Becomes Second State to Legalize Aid in Dying, Campaign has Moved Patients’ Rights Forward: Oregon experience shows aid-in-dying law benefits all at end of life, Provides comfort and control to terminally ill, ends violent deaths.

The passage of Washington’s I-100 is a “turning point on the path to human liberty. No terminal Washingtonian will ever have to shoot themselves or use other violent means again. We hope someday to be able to say the same for patients in the other 48 states,” said the group’s President Barbara Lee.

“Dignity has prevailed over dogma,” Lee said, “Opponents peddled lies and half-truths about Oregon’s Death with Dignity experience, but voters weren’t buying it. They decided end-of-life decisions are too personal, too precious and too sacred, to trust in the hands of government, politicians and a few religious leaders. Now, dying Washington residents can turn to legal aid in dying instead of feeling forced into violent, crude methods to end their suffering. We know when aid in dying is legal, end-of-life care improves for everyone. This happened in Oregon, and it will happen in Washington as well.”

Lee pledged to continue working to bring choice to terminal patients in the 48 states where aid in dying remains illegal, “The people of Washington opted for individual liberty, personal autonomy and freedom of conscience. We will continue to fight for these values on behalf of terminal patients and their families in the remaining states. These battles champion truth over lies, dignity over dogma and free will over blind obedience.”

Lee praised “thousands of volunteers who gave of their time, energy and money to support patient choice. Their dedication and labor was nothing short of heroic. All those who will die from this day forward, free and empowered with choices whether they exercise their right to death with dignity or not, owe them a debt of gratitude.”



10.28.08 American Public Health Association Supports Aid in Dying

The American Public Health Association today adopted a policy supporting Oregon-style aid-in-dying laws.

Submitted by Kathryn Tucker, Legal Affairs Director for Compassion & Choices, the policy was adopted after two years of extended consideration, debate, discussion and some strong opposition. After fully and carefully considered all the arguments APHA voted in favor of the policy by a 58 percent margin.

The APHA carefully reviewed Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, and the evidence that it has caused no harm to patients, including those considered to be in vulnerable populations. The group also reviewed evidence that the Death with Dignity Act has significantly improved end-of-life care in Oregon and prevents covert, back-alley practices.

The organization becomes the fourth national major medical association – and the largest – to examine Oregon’s Death with Dignity experience and adopt policy supporting it.

Tucker applauded the public health leaders for supporting patient choice at the end of life. “The adoption of policy supporting aid in dying by the APHA reflects a growing trend of support among mainstream medical and health policy organizations, recognizing the importance of this compassionate option,” she said. “APHA’s support for aid in dying should be influential as other states consider making this option legal.”

Read APHA Policy as submitted by Compassion & Choices here.

The final policy language has been minimally revised and will be posted within two weeks. The core components will remain unchanged with the exception of the following:
• The APHA does reject use of terms suicide or assisted-suicide, and will utilize the language used in the OR law, Death with Dignity.
• An additional provision will be added to the policy allowing for the APHA to place a ‘moratorium’ on the policy and its support for Death with Dignity in the event of any emerging data revealing disproportionate impact on Persons with Disabilities."