Quick Facts: District of Columbia B21-38

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

Margaret Dore Esq., MBA, Councilmember
Yvette Alexander

For more information, see Memo Opposing B21-38 and attachments. See also Suicide Contagion Memo and attachments.

1.  Overview

B21-38 legalizes physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined. Legally authorized participants include health care providers and family members.

2.  Definitions

Assisted suicide means that someone provides the means and/or information for another person to commit suicide. When a physician is involved,

The Oregon Experience is B.S.

bull

To view this article in a pdf format, see "Dore Memo Opposing Prop. 106," which can be viewed here and here.

The claim by assisted suicide proponents, that Oregon's law is safe, cannot be independently verified: (1) Studies making the claim are invalid; (2) Oregon's data cannot be verified; and (3) Even law enforcement is denied access to information.

Soyer: Who has the Choice in Assisted Suicide?

http://daily-iowan.com/2016/10/25/soyer-who-has-the-choice-in-assisted-suicide

Hannah Soyer

I am a very large supporter of individual choices and the right for individuals to make choices in regard to their own lives. Though, in the context of California’s most recent legislation concerning assisted suicide, the idea of “choice” may be disputed rather than upheld.

Stephanie Packer, a woman living in California who has a terminal form of scleroderma, an autoimmune disease, recently came out saying that her insurance company denied her coverage of chemotherapy but said it would cover doctor-assisted suicide. The insurance originally was going to cover her chemo, but then the End of Life Option Act went into effect on June 9. . .

Soon after this law was passed, Packer received a letter from her insurance company saying it was no longer going to cover her treatment, although the life-ending drugs would be covered.

Brittany Maynard's Story Sends the Wrong Message to Young People

Will Johnston, MD

Dear Editor:

I agree with the Gazette editorial board that legal assisted suicide sends the wrong message to young people. ("Vote 'no' on more suicide," 09/26/16). I also write to describe the damaging impact of the highly publicized case of Brittany Maynard, on my young adult patient who became actively suicidal after watching her video. I understand that her story is now being used to promote assisted suicide legalization in Colorado.

Ms. Maynard died in November 2014. A month later, I was presented with my young adult patient during an emergency appointment. He was physically healthy. His mother told me that he had been acting oddly and talking about death.

Montana: Say "No" to the Oregon Experience

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

To view pdf version with footnotes, click here.

Since the passage of Oregon’s law allowing physician-assisted suicide, other suicides in Oregon have steadily increased. This is consistent with a suicide contagion in which the legalization of physician-assisted suicides has encouraged other suicides. In Oregon, the financial and emotional impacts of suicide on family members and the broader community are devastating
and long-lasting.

Denver Post Switches Sides: Votes "NO" on Prop. 106

https://www.denverpost.com/2016/10/11/no-on-proposition-106-aid-in-dying-measure-lacks-proper-safeguards/

After a lot of soul-searching, we are asking voters to reject Proposition 106, a measure that would give patients the legal right to end their life, because we fear the cultural, legal and medical shift that it would create in Colorado.

Nancy Valko on Oregon: What hides in the dark?

"No other area of medical practice-even lethal injection-is allowed such secrecy and immunity." Nancy Valko, RN

"What hides in
 the dark?"

Edited by Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

Note two provisions in Oregon's law:

“The Health Services shall make rules to facilitate the collection of information regarding compliance with ORS 127.800 to 127.897. Except as otherwise required by law, the information collected shall not be a public record and may not be made available for inspection by the public.” (Only an “an annual statistical report of information” is made public.) (Emphasis added.)

And 

“No person shall be subject to civil or criminal liability or professional disciplinary action for participating in good faith compliance with ORS 127.800 to 127.897. ” (Emphasis added.)

There is also no requirement that the doctor or anyone else witness or even be present at the lethal overdose.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board: "Vote 'no' on more suicide"

http://gazette.com/editorial-vote-no-on-more-suicide/article/1586396

Proposition 106 would establish the assisted suicide trade for doctors willing to participate. An out-of-state special interest, funded mostly by billionaire George Soros, has marketed this measure as a form of compassion.

Suicide rates are a crisis in Colorado, and a poorly written plan to legitimize these tragedies raises big concerns.

NEW DATE! Early Warning: Enjoy an Interesting Evening In Missoula Montana

Rep. Brad Tschida

Rolling Back the Suicide Epidemic:

Why are Physician-Assisted Suicide

and Euthanasia Bad News for Montana?

THURSDAY, Oct. 13, 2016, 7 p.m.
New date!

Click here to view flyer with the new date     

Presenters:   

Senator Jennifer Fielder

• Brad Tschida, Montana State Representative, a legislative leader in the fight to prevent suicide.
• Jennifer Fielder, Montana State Senator, a legislative leader in the fight to prevent suicide.
• Philip Tummarello, retired Sgt. Inspector of the San Francisco Police Department, who implemented and supervised the San Francisco Elder Abuse Task Force.
• Margaret Dore, a lawyer in Washington State where assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal, and president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation. 

DC Bill: Patients Have No Right to be Told of Options for Cure or to Extend Life; Patient Choice is Not Assured

"Ejusdem generis, Latin for
"of the same kind.”

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

"Ejusdem generis" is Latin for "of the same kind."[1] The phrase is also a rule of statutory construction, which is used to interpret loosely written statutes[2]. The rule states:

"Where a law lists specific classes of persons or things and then refers to them in general, the general statements only apply to the same kind of persons or things specifically listed. Example:  if a law refers to automobiles, trucks, tractors, motorcycles and other motor-powered vehicles, 'vehicles' would not include airplanes, since the list was of land-based transportation." (Emphasis added). [3]

'Death with Dignity' Imperils the Poor

Reprint from 2004

http://realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/9122

Last week’s article by an assisted suicide/euthanasia advocate struck me as a bizarre article  

for Real Change, which advocates for the dignity and self-determination of the poor. (“Terminally ill patients face shortage of right-to-die drug amid controversy over capital punishment,” Real Change, June 18, 2014)

Oregon: Jury awards$3 million to fired nurse who complained of 'rushing patients through' to save money

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2015/09/jury_awards_3_million_to_legac.html

By Aimee Green

A Portland jury on Friday awared a nurse more than $3 million -- agreeing that she was wrongfully terminated by
Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center after she complained to management that cost cutting measures were jeopardizing patient care. Registered nurse Linda Boly said Saturday that she felt vindicated by the verdict. She hopes it sends a "big message" to Legacy Health System that "rushing patients through" the process endangers them. . . .

To read the rest of the article, click here.

The ADA: A Gift From the Disability Community to the Non-Disabled, Improving Access for All

http://www.npr.org/2015/07/24/423230927/-a-gift-to-the-non-disabled-at-25-the-ada-improves-access-for-all

"This elevator is a gift from the disability
 community and the ADA to the nondisabled
 people of New York," said civil rights
lawyer,  Sid Wolinsky. 

From NPR's Joseph Shapiro, published last year.

When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law 25 years ago, "everybody was thinking about the iconic person in a wheelchair," says civil rights lawyer Sid Wolinsky. Or that the ADA — which bans discrimination based on disability — was for someone who is deaf, or blind.

But take a tour of New York City with Wolinsky — and the places he sued there — and you will see how the ADA has helped not just people with those significant disabilities, but also people with minor disabilities, and people with no disability at all.

Press Release: Bill Will Allow "the Perfect Crime," Encourage People "to Throw Away Their Lives"

For print version, click here.

Salt Lake City, UT -- Attorney Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has fought assisted suicide legalization efforts in many states, and now Utah, made the following statement in connection with a bill pending before the Utah Legislature.  (HB 264).

"The bill has an application process to obtain the lethal dose," said Dore. "The process includes a written lethal dose request form with two required witnesses.  One of the witnesses is allowed to be the patient's heir who will financially benefit from the patient's death."

Utah: Testimony of Kenneth Stevens MD Opposing Assisted Suicide

To view testimony as a pdf, click here.

1.  I strongly urge you to Vote No on HB 264, which seeks to legalize physician assisted suicide in Utah

Photo of me and my patient Jeanette Hall, 15 years after
I talked her out of assisted suicide in Oregon
Photo credit - Daily Signal

I am a cancer doctor in Oregon, where physician-assisted suicide is legal. I was also raised in Logan, graduated from USU, and received my MD from the University of Utah Medical School 50 years ago. I am Professor Emeritus and former chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Oregon Health and Science University. I regularly visit Utah. I continue to practice in my cancer medical specialty.

New Mexico Overturns District Court Decision Allowing Assisted Suicide

Today, the New Mexico Supreme Court upheld a criminal statute prohibiting "assisting suicide" as constitutional when applied to "physician aid in dying," meaning physician-assisted suicide. The 5-0 decision states in part:

[W]e agree with the legitimate concern that recognizing a right to physician aid in dying will lead to voluntary or involuntary euthanasia because if it is a right, it must be made available to everyone, even when a duly appointed surrogate makes the decision, and even when the patient is unable to self-administer the life-ending medication. . . .

[The] statute is neither unconstitutional or its face nor as it is applied to Petitioners. . . . [W]e reverse the district court's contrary conclusion and remand to the district court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.  (Emphasis added). [pp. 31 & 57]

New Mexico Supreme Court Upholds Statute Prohibiting Assisted Suicide

New Mexico Supreme Court

Today, the New Mexico Supreme Court upheld a criminal statute prohibiting "assisting suicide" as constitutional when applied to "physician aid in dying," meaning physician-assisted suicide. The 5-0 decision states in part:

[W]e agree with the legitimate concern that recognizing a right to physician aid in dying will lead to voluntary or involuntary euthanasia because if it is a right, it must be made available to everyone, even when a duly appointed surrogate makes the decision, and even when the patient is unable to self-administer the life-ending medication. . . .

[The] statute is neither unconstitutional or its face nor as it is applied to Petitioners. . . . [W]e reverse the district court's contrary conclusion and remand to the district court for proceedings consistent with this opinion. [pp. 31 & 57]

Massachusetts 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

Ethan Gutmann: An Update to "Bloody Harvest" & "The Slaughter"

http://www.choiceillusioncanada.org/2016/06/ethan-gutmann-update-to-bloody-harvest_25.html

Ethan Gutmann, author of "The Slaughter," has introduced a new report and video supporting that 1.5 million people have been killed by the Chinese regime through harvesting organs, i.e., from prisoners of conscience. To view the video, click here.  To view the report, click here.

Czeck Cabinet rejects deputies' bill allowing euthanasia

http://www.praguemonitor.com/2016/06/23/cabinet-rejects-deputies-bill-allowing-euthanasia

Prague, June 22 (CTK) - The Czech centre-left cabinet rejected yesterday a deputies' bill enabling to

perform euthanasia in strictly defined cases, two ministers have written on Twitter. . . 

The final decision on it is up to parliament.

Deputy PM Pavel Belobradek (KDU-CSL) and Industry and Trade Minister Jan Mladek (CSSD) have reported on the government's negative stand on Twitter.

"The bill, if passed, could result in the killing of people," Mladek wrote.

British Medical Association Rejects Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia by 2 to 1 Majority

The British Medical Association has once again rejected assisted suicide and euthanasia. Dr. Peter Saunders of Care Not Killing provides this report on his blog:

Today the Annual Representative Meeting (ARM) of the British Medical Association (BMA) in Belfast voted against going neutral on assisted suicide by a two to one majority. . . .

British parliaments have consistently resisted any move to legalise any form of assisted suicide or euthanasia. There have been a dozen unsuccessful attempts in the last twelve years. Last year the Marris Bill in the House of Commons and the Harvie Bill in the Scottish Parliament were defeated by 330-118 and 82-36 respectively. . . .

To view Dr. Saunders' entire report, click here.

Worldwide Theater Protest: Melbourne Australia

http://thevine.com.au/entertainment/disability-activists-boycotting-hashtag-mebeforeeuthanasia/

While rom-com ‘Me Before You’ was only released in Australia today [06/15/16], it’s already receiving a growing amount of backlash. . . .

Activists . . .  argue the film promotes the notion that disabled lives are considered less valuable and that the film romanticises death. . . .

For more information about the worldwide theater protest, click here.

New York Memo Opposing Bills A. 10059 and S. 7579 - Web Version

https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/ny-memo-05-31-16_001.pdf

I. INTRODUCTION

I am a lawyer in Washington State where physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal.[1] Our law is based on a similar law in Oregon.  Both laws are similar to the proposed bills, A. 10059 and S. 7579.[2]

The bills are titled “Medical Aid in Dying.”  There is, however, no requirement that patients be dying. “Eligible” patients may have years, even decades, to live. The bills are also sold as a promotion of patient choice and control. The bills are instead stacked against the patient and a recipe for elder abuse. Finally, the bills are deceptively written; they are not what they appear to be. I urge you to vote “No.”

World Wide Theater Protest: Not Dead Yet

The sign in the photo is accurate. 

Assisted suicide and euthanasia are sold as giving choice and control to dying people.

There is, however, no requirement in any of the US/Canadian bills that people be "dying." "Eligible" persons can have years, even decades, to live.

The bills, as written, are also stacked against the patient and a recipe for elder abuse.

With the movie, "Me Before You, " we are now seeing a push for people with physical disabilities to kill themselves/be killed - even if, like the guy in the movie, they are drop dead handsome, rich and surrounded by people who love them.

Lawsuit Filed to Stop California Assisted Suicide Law!

The Life Legal Defense Foundation filed a lawsuit today challenging California's assisted suicide law.

The civil rights lawsuit alleges Equal Protection violations of individuals labeled terminally ill and was filed by five doctor and by the American Academy of Medical Ethics (AAME),

 

The Act decriminalizes physician-assisted suicide and instantly removes criminal law, elder abuse, and mental-health legal protections from any individual labeled terminally ill.  By contrast, non-labeled Californians have legal protection that makes it a felony to aid, advise, or encourage another to commit suicide.

Worldwide Theater Protest: "Hollywood Lies: I Prefer My Girlfriend Alive"

Wilfredo Rodriguez-Lopez

The New York based Center for Disability Rights has created a public service announcement in response to the disability snuff film, "Me Before You."

The PSA, which has already garnered over 150,000 views on Facebook, was developed by the Center for Disability Rights with filmmaker Clark Matthews. The PSA highlights that disabled lives are worth living, and that assisted suicide is harmful to the disability community

Worldwide Theater Protest: Wheelchair Athlete Ella Frech on "Me Before You"

Ella Frech

Eleven year old Ella Frech had a few things to say about "Me Before You"

Me Before You comes out tomorrow. I’ve never read the book, but my mom told me about it and I read the reviews online. It’s the story of a guy who gets in an accident, and has a spinal cord injury, and has to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. A guy you think should want to die because he has to live a life that looks like mine.

Well, what’s wrong with a life that looks like mine?

New York Press Release: "Bills Will Allow the 'Perfect Crime'"

https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/new-york-media-release-06-03-16.pdf

FRIDAY  JUNE 2, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dore:  "New York's new assisted suicide bills, if enacted, will allow the perfect crime. They will encourage people with years to live to throw away their lives."

Contact: Margaret Dore (206) 697-1217

Albany, NY -- Attorney Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has fought assisted suicide legalization efforts in many states, including New York, made the following statement in connection with bills pending before the New York State Legislature:

“There are new bills seeking to legalize ‘medical aid in dying,’ which is a euphemism for assisted suicide,” said Dore. (A. 10059 and S. 7579)

“A central problem with the bills is that a person assisting a suicide can have his or her own agenda,” Dore said. “For example, if the person will financially benefit from the patient’s death due to an inheritance, he or she will have a motivation to be sure that the death goes through. This may or may not be consistent with the patient’s choice.”

New York: Vote “No” on A. 10059 and S. 7579

New York's assisted suicide bills are deceptively written, stacked against the patient and a recipe for elder abuse. For a one page handout, click here. For more in depth information, click here 

Bill Highlights

1.  A. 10059 and S. 7579 seek to legalize “medical aid in dying,” a euphemism for assisted suicide and euthanasia. There is no requirement that eligible patients be dying.

2.  Patients are instead required to have a prediction of less than six months to live. In real life, such predictions are often wrong.

3.  Predictions are wrong due to misdiagnosis and because predicting life expectancy is an inexact science. See e.g.,  Jessica Firger, “12 million Americans misdiagnosed each year,” CBS NEWS, 4/17/14, at http://www.cbsnews.com/news/12-million-americans-misdiagnosed-each-year-study-says

South Africa: Dore Expert Witness Affidavit

Below, an excerpt from the expert witness affidavit of Attorney Margaret K. Dore, filed in the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, SCA Case No: 531/2015. 

The affidavit, including attachments, can be viewed by clicking here.

The Oregon and Washington Acts

12.  The Oregon and Washington "Death with Dignity Acts" legalize physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined. See memo, pp. 2-3 (regarding definitions)  at "MD."

Media Release: Carter has been proved wrong; new law needed to prohibit assisted suicide & euthanasia

FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canada’s Bill C-14, which seeks to codify assisted suicide and euthanasia, is a recipe for elder abuse. Recommendations by the Senate Legal & Constitutional Affairs Committee do not solve the bill’s problems. The bill violates the Canadian Supreme Court case, Carter v Canada.  

Recent news stories have proven Carter wrong. This justifies a new look at the issue, including time for more study or a new law prohibiting euthanasia and assisted suicide. 

Media Advisory: Lawyer Margaret Dore will speak in opposition to euthanasia bill at the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery

Ottawa, ON - (May 19, 2016) - Lawyer Margaret Dore will take part in a press conference in opposition to Bill C-14, which seeks to codify assisted suicide and euthanasia throughout Canada.

Who:

Lawyer Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has been fighting efforts to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in the United States, Canada and other countries.

When:

Friday, May 20, 2016, at 10:30 am

Where:

Charles Lynch Press Conference Room
Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery
Ottawa, Ontario Canada
______________________________

Contact information
Margaret Dore

(613) 899-0366

margaretdore@margaretdore.com

Canada: Andrew Coyne: Who says the Supreme Court won’t change its mind on doctor-assisted suicide — yet again?

http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/andrew-coyne-who-says-the-supreme-court-wont-change-its-mind-on-doctor-assisted-suicide-yet-again

If the court could reverse its decision before, it may again

Suppose Bill C-14, legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide, were to pass its expected vote in the House of Commons this week. What then?

Assuming it then passed in the Senate — perhaps a dangerous assumption — Canada would become one of the very few countries on Earth to make it lawful (that is by legislation) to kill someone with their consent. For now, eligibility to receive this service is restricted to mentally competent adults whose condition is “grievous and irremediable,” whose suffering, physical or mental, is “intolerable to them,” whose request is “voluntary,” and so on. For now.

Canada: Senate Report Recommendations Will Not Solve the Bill's Problems

https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/media-release-bil-c-14-regarding-repor.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canada’s Bill C-14, which seeks to codify assisted suicide and euthanasia, is a recipe for elder abuse.

Proposed recommendations by the Senate Legal & Constitutional Affairs Committee will not solve the bill’s problems.  The bill will encourage people with years, even decades, to live to throw away their lives.  The bill will remain seriously flawed and contrary to the Canadian Supreme Court case, Carter v. Canada, which envisioned a “carefully designed and monitored system of safeguards.”  The bill must be rejected.

Contact: Margaret Dore:   (613) 899-0366
margaretdore@margaretdore.com

Ottawa - Lawyer Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has been fighting efforts to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in the United States, Canada and other countries, made the following statement in connection with Canada’s Bill C-14:

“The recommendations made by the Senate Committee’s thoughtful report will not solve the bill’s problems,” said Dore. “Consider, for example, the recommendation to define ‘eligibility’ as a ‘serious and incurable terminal illness, disease or disability [for a person who has] been determined to be at the end of life.’  In Oregon, which has a similar terminal criteria, chronic conditions such as insulin dependent diabetes qualify.

Dore explained, "Chronic conditions qualify because, in practice, the eligibility determination is made without treatment. According to Oregon doctor, William Toffler, MD, the typical insulin dependent 18 year old with treatment will have decades to live, but without treatment will live less than a month. The Committee’s recommendation, if adopted and interpreted according to Oregon’s precedent, will encourage people with years, even decades to live, to throw away their lives.”

“The recommendations also raise a valid concern that there is nothing to ensure patient consent  when the lethal is administered,” said Dore. “Indeed, there is a complete lack of oversight at the death. In the case of assisted suicide, no witness, not even a doctor is required to be present.”

Canada: Bill C-14 is a Recipe for Elder Abuse & Contrary to the Carter Case

https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/press-release-bill-c-14.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dore:  "Canada’s Bill C-14, which seeks to codify assisted suicide and euthanasia, is a recipe for elder abuse.”

“The bill is contrary to the Canadian Supreme Court case, Carter v Canada, which envisioned a ‘carefully designed and monitored system of safeguards.’”

Contact: Margaret Dore:   (206) 697-1217
margaretdore@margaretdore.com

Ottawa, ON - Lawyer Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which has been fighting efforts to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in the United States, Canada and other countries, made the following statement in connection with Canada’s Bill C-14, which seeks to codify assisted suicide and euthanasia into law.

"The bill refers to assisted suicide and euthanasia as 'medical assistance in dying,' but there is no requirement that a person be dying,” said Dore. “‘Eligible’ persons may have years, even decades, to live.”

Dore said, "The bill is a recipe for elder abuse. The patient's heir, who will financially benefit from the patient's death, is allowed to actively participate in signing the patient up for the lethal dose. There is no oversight over administration." Dore elaborated, "In the case of assisted suicide, not even a doctor or other medically trained person is required to be present at the death.  If the patient struggled, who would know?"

“The bill is a response to the Canadian Supreme Court decision, Carter v. Canada, which found a right to assisted suicide and euthanasia for ‘competent’ adults who ‘clearly consent,’” said Dore. The bill, however, does not comply with these requirements. Dore explained, “The bill does not even use the word ‘competent,’ except in the bill’s preamble, which does not have force of law. The bill violates Carter, which requires that the patient be a ‘competent adult.’”

“Carter also envisioned  a ‘carefully designed and monitored system of safeguards,’” said Dore. “This would at the very least require oversight when the lethal dose is administered to the patient. The bill does not do so. There is also no required monitoring or investigation after the patient’s death.”

Military Veteran Groups Threatened by Assisted Suicide Study Bill in NH; Bill Defeated 174 to 123!

From True Dignity Vermont
http://www.truedignity.org/military-veteran-groups-threatened-by-assisted-suicide-study-proposals-in-nh/

To hear Representative Baldasaro's speech, click here

Rep Al Baldasaro

Rep. Al Baldasaro of the New Hampshire Legislature on May 11 gave an impassioned speech against a proposed “study committee” to look at “end of life choices.” Speaking on behalf of Veterans’ PTSD/TBI Commission, he cited the fact that New Hampshire is facing an epidemic of suicides among Veterans, and said, “What message are you sending to the community out there and all the good work every one of us has done to protect people from killing themselves? Now we want to make it easy?”

He said that opening the door to such a practice would have grave consequences for veterans at risk for suicide, and that even studying such a bill would threaten efforts to help veterans.   He clearly states that euphemisms such as “aid in dying” don’t change the fact that such laws promote suicide and threaten efforts to protect people from killing themselves.

***

On May 11, 2016, the New Hampshire House of Representatives defeated the bill, 174 to 123.

New Power of Attorney Act Expressly Excludes "Death with Dignity"

Washington State's new uniform power of attorney act specifically says that “no rights under Washington’s death with dignity act, chapter 70.245 RCW may be exercised through a power of attorney.”  Session Law 5635, Section 219.

Two Doctors Convicted of Falsely Certifying Patients as Terminally Ill as Part of $8.8 Million Healthcare Fraud Scheme

https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/two-doctors-convicted-falsely-certifying-patients-terminally-ill-part-88-million

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker

Thursday, May 5, 2016

LOS ANGELES – Two doctors were found guilty today of federal health care fraud charges for falsely certifying that Medicare patients were terminally ill, and therefore qualified for hospice care, when the vast majority of them were not actually dying.

Following a two-week trial, the doctors were found guilty of participating in a scheme related to the Covina-based California Hospice Care (CHC). Between March 2009 and June 2013, CHC submitted approximately $8.8 million in fraudulent bills to Medicare and Medi-Cal for hospice-related services, and the public health programs paid nearly $7.4 million to CHC.

The two doctors convicted today by a federal jury are:

• Sri Wijegoonaratna, known as Dr. J., 61, of Anaheim, who was found guilty of seven counts of health care fraud; and
• Boyao Huang, 43, of Pasadena, who was found guilty of four counts of health care fraud.

Robert Falcon Ouellette Parliament Speech

http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2016/05/robert-falcon-ouellette-suicide-assisted-suicide-speech-in-parliament/#.Vy1XCSghzzJ

Editor's Note Mr. Ouellette, a 38-year-old Cree, references Attawapiskat. Last month the Canadian parliament held an emergency debate on Aboriginal suicides after 11 people, nine of them minors, attempted suicide in one weekend in Attawapiskat, a remote community of 2,000 in northern Ontario.

The following is excerpted from the speech delivered by Robert Falcon Ouellette MP (Winnipeg Centre Liberal) on Monday May 2.

Robert Falcon Ouellette MP

"[Bill C-14] is taking us down a path that is very 

dangerous, and we do not know where it ends."

Madam Speaker, a report in The Globe and Mail on April 24, 2016, says 13-year-old Sheridan Hookimaw killed herself on the banks of the river that winds through Attawapiskat. The sickly girl had been flown out for weekly medical appointments. She wanted to end her pain, and in the process, she set off a chain reaction not only in her community but in communities right across this country, which we are still dealing with today.

Canadian parliamentary debate: Without amendment, Bill C-14 "will protect no one."

Garnett Genuis, MP

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park ­Fort Saskatchewan, CPC) . . .

I want to be clear that I do not believe in an all-or-nothing approach. Many of my colleagues and I who have broad philosophical concerns about what is happening here are still willing to vote in favour of legislation that does not re-criminalize euthanasia, if it advances positively in the direction of saving some lives, especially minimizing the risk to vulnerable persons. However, this legislation does not contain meaningful safeguards. Without amendment, it will protect no one.

We know that this law has written exceptions. However, it has exceptions to the exceptions; and may I say it has exceptions to the exceptions that are not at all exceptional?

This legislation has a requirement for the provision of written consent. However, if people cannot provide written consent, someone else can do it on their behalf.

This legislation prescribes a waiting period. However, the waiting period does not apply in the event of possible imminent death or loss of capacity.

There is so much ambiguity here.

Canada: Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette is Voting "NO"

Robert-Falcon Ouellette, MP

http://aptn.ca/news/2016/04/20/indigenous-liberal-mp-ouellette-voting-against-governments-assisted-dying-bill/

Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette says he plans to vote against his party’s proposed bill to legalize medically assisted dying [assisted suicide and euthanasia].

Ouellette said the federal government should work around the deadline and delay legalizing assisted death for at least five to 10 years until it’s absolutely clear what sort of impact it would have in all corners of Canadian society.

Why on Earth is Anyone Surprised By the Rise in US Suicides? Advertising Works.

"Though the economy may well have contributed to this rise,
True Dignity calls everyone’s attention to a fact that is being ignored. 1998 was the year in which Oregon became the first state in the nation  to put legalized assisted suicide into practice."

From True Dignity Vermont:

News sources are reporting with surprise and seeming alarm on the Center for Disease Control's newly released statistics showing that deaths by suicide in the entire US are on the rise.  Why the surprise?  It has been common knowledge since the rise of mass media, and even before, that advertising works.

True Dignity has neither the expertise nor the time to analyze the CDC report’s statistics  in detail.   A few quotes will suffice to paint the picture of our current situation.

“The suicide rate in the United States increased by 24% from 1999 through 2014…among all groups.  The increase in suicide rate has been steady since 1999, before which there was a consistent decline since 1986…”  (USA Today, April 22, 2016, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/04/22/suicide-rate-rise-us/83284568/).

Canadian Government Position on Suicide "Absurd"

http://lethbridgeherald.com/commentary/letters-to-the-editor/2016/04/21/is-suicidea-right-ora-tragedy/

Suicide: a right or a tragedy? 

The Emperor has no clothes.

The answer to this question might seem obvious, but the government of Canada apparently thinks that "both" is an appropriate answer. In one week, the same MPs in the same House of Commons discussed recently introduced legislation concerning assisted dying, while also holding an emergency debate on the rash of suicides and suicide attempts in remote aboriginal communities. This is absurd.

On the one hand, we are justifiably concerned and dismayed over the alarming suicide rates in aboriginal communities. And why shouldn't we be? It is tragic that so many people, especially youth, wish to end their lives, deciding that life is meaningless and not worth living.

Canada: Oregon Doctor Urges Rejection of Carter and Bill C-14

Dear Member of Canadian Parliament,

VOTE NO ON BILL C-14; INVOKE THE NOTWITHSTANDING CLAUSE TO OVERRIDE THE CARTER DECISION

"Don't follow Oregon's
 failed experiment"

For 49 years I have been a cancer doctor in Oregon where assisted suicide has been legal for a number of years. I have seen the tragedy and harm to patients, the medical profession and society from assisted suicide.

If enacted Bill C-14 will encourage people with years to live to have their lives terminated prematurely. My patient, Jeanette Hall, wanted assisted suicide from me in 2000. After helping her have hope in her cancer condition, she agreed to be treated and is now alive and very well 15 years later.  She says, "It's great to be alive!"

A Letter From Western Australia to Canadian MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette

I was pleased to see you questioning the impact of legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia on

Canada's Indigenous people.

As Canada considers legislation to change the law on murder and assisted suicide to allow certain people to be killed with legal immunity it may be helpful to consider the fate of the world's first modern euthanasia law.

In 1996 the Australian Parliament overturned the Northern Territory's euthanasia law. This followed an extensive Senate committee inquiry in which one of the key issues canvassed was the deep opposition to the idea that a doctor could give a lethal injection from the indigenous community and its leaders. Chapter 5 of the committee's report detailed concerns that indigenous health, already seriously below par with that of other Australians, would be further set back as indigenous people were afraid and unwilling to go to a hospital where one of the "treatments" on offer was a lethal jab.