Showing posts with label Montana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montana. Show all posts

Thursday, January 7, 2021

Montana: New Bill to Overturn Assisted Suicide

  

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

Senator Carl Glimm will be introducing a new bill to overturn Montana's Baxter decision.  

The purpose will be to clarify once and for all that physician-assisted suicide is not legal in Montana. 

To learn more, view our Montana page at this link.

Friday, November 8, 2019

A Short History of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in Montana

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA                                                                                                          

Assisted suicide means that someone provides the means and/or information for another person to commit suicide.  If a doctor is involved, the practice may be termed physician-assisted suicide.  Euthanasia is the administration of a lethal agent by another person.

A.  Assisted Suicide

In 1895, the Montana Legislature enacted a criminal statute prohibiting assisted suicide as a "crime against the public safety."[1] In 1907, 1921 and 1947, this statute was re-codified, but its text remained unchanged.[2] The statute stated: "Every person who deliberately aids, or advises or encourages another to commit suicide is guilty of a felony."[3]

Friday, January 25, 2019

New Bill to Overturn Montana's Baxter Decision

Rep. Glimm
HOUSE BILL NO. 284
INTRODUCED BY C. GLIMM

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT PROVIDING THAT CONSENT TO PHYSICIAN AID IN DYING IS NOT A DEFENSE TO A CHARGE OF HOMICIDE; AMENDING SECTION 45-2-211, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE."

Friday, August 18, 2017

In Oregon, Other Suicides Have Increased with the Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide

By Margaret K. Dore, Esq.

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.[1]

A.  Suicide is Contagious 

It is well known that suicide is contagious. A famous example is Marilyn Monroe.[2] Her widely reported suicide was followed by “a spate of suicides.”[3]

With the understanding that suicide is contagious, groups such as the National Institute of Mental Health and the World Health Organization have developed guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicide, to prevent contagion. Key points include that the risk of additional suicides increases:
[W]hen the story explicitly describes the suicide method, uses dramatic/graphic headlines or images, and repeated/extensive coverage sensationalizes or glamorizes a death.[4] 
B. Physician-Assisted Suicide in Oregon

In Oregon, prominent cases of physician-assisted suicide include Lovelle Svart and Brittany Maynard.

Lovelle Svart died in 2007.[5] The Oregonian, which is Oregon’s largest paper, violated the recommended guidelines for the responsible reporting of suicide by explicitly describing her suicide method and by employing “dramatic/graphic images.” Indeed, visitors to the paper’s website were invited “to hear and see when Lovelle swallowed the fatal dose.”[6] Today, ten years later, there are still photos of her online, lying in bed, dying.[7]

Brittany Maynard reportedly died from physician-assisted suicide in Oregon, on November 1, 2014. Contrary to the recommended guidelines, there was “repeated/extensive coverage” in multiple media, worldwide.[8] This coverage is ongoing, albeit on a smaller and less intense scale.

C. The Young Man Wanted to Die Like Brittany Maynard

A month after Ms. Maynard’s death, Dr. Will Johnston was presented with a twenty year old patient during an emergency appointment.[9] The young man, who had been brought in by his mother, was physically healthy, but had been acting oddly and talking about death.[10]

Dr. Johnston asked the young man if he had a plan.[11] The young man said "yes," that he had watched a video about Ms. Maynard.[12] He said that he was very impressed with her and that he identified with her and that he thought it was a good idea for him to die like her.[13] He also told Dr. Johnston that after watching the video he had been surfing the internet looking for suicide drugs.[14] Dr. Johnston’s declaration states:
He was actively suicidal and agreed to go to the hospital, where he stayed for five weeks until it was determined that he was sufficiently safe from self-harm to go home.[15]
The young man had wanted to die like Brittany Maynard.

D. In Oregon, Other Suicides Have Increased with Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide

Oregon government reports show the following positive correlation between the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and an increase in other suicides.  Per the reports:
  • Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide “in late 1997.”[16]
  • By 2000, Oregon’s conventional suicide rate was "increasing significantly."[17]
  • By 2007, Oregon's conventional suicide rate was 35% above the national average.[18]
  • By 2010, Oregon's conventional suicide rate was 41% above the national average.[19]
  • By 2012, Oregon's conventional suicide rate was 42% above the national average.[20]
  • By 2014, Oregon's conventional suicide rate was 43.1% higher than the national average.[21]
E. The Financial and Emotional Cost of Suicide in Oregon 

Oregon’s report for 2012 describes the cost of suicide as “enormous.” The report states:
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Oregonians aged 15 to 34 years, and the eighth leading cause of death among all ages in Oregon. The cost of suicide is enormous. In 201[2] alone, self-inflicted injury hospitalization charges in Oregon exceeded $54 million; and the estimate of total lifetime cost of suicide in Oregon was over $677 million. The loss to families and communities broadens the impact of each death. (footnotes omitted).[22]
F. The Significance for Montana

In Montana, the law on assisted suicide is governed by   the Montana Supreme Court decision, Baxter v. State, 354 Mont. 234 (2009). Baxter gives doctors who assist a suicide a potential defense to criminal prosecution.[23] Baxter does not legalize assisted suicide by giving doctors or anyone else immunity.[24]

The decision, however, is also confusing so that it can be read different ways. More importantly, some doctors are claiming to have assisted suicides in Montana. If nothing is done to clarify the law, there will at some point be de facto legality.

Montana already has a higher suicide rate than Oregon.[25] If Baxter is not overturned and/or the law clarified that assisted suicide is not legal, the suicide problem in Montana will only get worse. Montana does not need the Oregon experience.

Footnotes:

[1]  Shen X., Millet L., Suicides in Oregon: Trends and Associated Factors. 2003-2012, Oregon Health Authority, Portland Oregon, p.3, Executive Summary
[2]  Margot Sanger-Katz, “The Science Behind Suicide Contagion,” The New York Times, August 13, 2014.
[3]  Id.
[4]  "Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide,” The National Institute of Mental Health. See also “Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals,” World Health Organization, at http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/resource_media.pdf.
[5]  Ed Madrid, “Lovelle Svart, 1945 - 2007The Oregonian, September 28, 2007. 
[6]  Id.
[7]  The still shots at this link, are still up today, July 7, 2017.
[8]  The worldwide coverage of Ms. Maynard in multiple media started with an exclusive cover story in People Magazine. Other coverage has included TV, radio, print, web and social media.
[9]  Declaration of Williard Johnston, MD, May 24, 2015. 
[10]  Id.
[11]  Id.
[12]  Id.
[13]  Id.
[14]  Id.
[15]  Id.
[16]  Oregon's Death with Dignity report for 2016, p. 4, first line
[17]  Oregon Health Authority News Release, September 9, 2010, at https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/news-release-09-09-10.pdf ("After decreasing in the 1990s, suicide rates have been increasing significantly since 2000").  
[18]  Suicides in Oregon: Trend and Risk Factors, issued September 2010 (data through 2007). 
[19]  Suicides in Oregon: Trends and Risk Factors, 2012 Report (data through 2010). 
[20]  Suicides in Oregon: Trends and Associated Factors, 2003-2012 (data through 2012). 
[21] Oregon Vital Statistics Report 2015 (data through 2014;
at page 6-26, third full paragraph)
[23]  Greg Jackson, Esq. & Matt Bowman, Esq., "Analysis of Implications of the Baxter Case on Potential Criminal Liability," April 2010.
[24]  State Senator Jim Shockley and Margaret Dore, Esq., "No, physician-assisted suicide is not legal in Montana: It's a recipe for elder abuse and more," The Montana Lawyer," The State Bar of Montana, November 2011.
[25]  CDC Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, "QuickStats: Age Adjusted Suicide Rates by State, United States, 2012," published on November 14, 2014.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Montana Resolution Addresses "Mistaken Assumption That Suicide Is a Rational Response to Disability"

Representative Brad Tschida
Representative Brad Tschida has introduced Joint House Resolution No. 14 to include people with chronic health conditions in Montana's Strategic Suicide Prevention Plan for 2017.  A key paragraph notes: 

Until recently, the Montana Strategic Suicide Prevention Plan was considering assisted suicide of the terminally ill as a separate issue from suicide prevention. The active disability community in Montana, however, has been vocal on the need for suicide prevention services for individuals with disabilities. . . . . Individuals with disabilities have a right to responsive suicide prevention services. 

There is a specific recommendation to "address . . . the mistaken assumption that suicide is a rational response to disability."

Thursday, October 13, 2016

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.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

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!

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. 

Thursday, June 16, 2016

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.”

Monday, March 30, 2015

Montana: Vote "Yes" on HB 477!

HB 477 will reverse Baxter and send a clear message that medical killings are prohibited and against public policy.  Individuals will be protected from the medical establishment, individual doctors and family members with something to gain.

A.  Involuntary Medical Killings.

Throughout the US, there are increasing reports of involuntary medical killings.[1] Consider a 2012 case against Kaiser Healthcare. Doctors killed the patient, a wealthy older man, through a “terminal extubation.” His daughters had allegedly urged this result in order to obtain large inheritances.[2]  In Montana, examples include Dr. James Mungas, who was killed under the guise of hospice/palliative care.  His widow, Carol Mungas, states:
It is traumatic, still, to realize his last communications were attempts to get help.[3]
B.  Likely Problems

Baxter has created confusion in the law and has emboldened some doctors and family members to publicly admit participation in assisted suicides.  If HB 477 is not enacted, this situation will likely lead to defacto legality and the following problems:

    1.  New paths of elder abuse, especially for people with money.

Legal assisted suicide creates new paths of elder abuse. Consider, for example, the Thomas Middleton case, where legal physician-assisted suicide in Oregon was part of a financial elder abuse fraud.

    2.  Steerage to suicide.

It is well documented that Oregon's Medicaid program steers patients to suicide (suicide is covered in lieu of treatments for cure or to extend life).  Private health plans and providers have this same ability. To learn more, see this affidavit by Oregon doctor, Kenneth Stevens, MD.

    3.  Pressure on patients. 

See this letter by Marlene Deakins, RN, describing the pressure put on her brother after he merely asked a question about assisted suicide in Washington State. 

    4.  More conventional suicides, including violent suicides.

In Oregon, conventional suicides, including violent suicides, have substantially increased with legalization of assisted suicide. This is consistent with a suicide contagion.  The financial cost of these suicides is "enormous."  For more information, click here.

    5.  Pressure to expand to non-terminal people.

In Washington state, there have been "trial balloon" proposals to expand its law to non-terminal people, including those who have simply fallen on hard times. See e.g., this column in the Seattle Times, suggesting euthanasia for people without money for their old age.  

C.  Contact Your Legislators.

Contact your legislators and urge them to vote "YES" on HB 477.

* * *
[1]  Peter Whoriskey, "As More Hospices Enroll Patients who Aren't Dying, Questions About Lethal Doses Arise," The Washington Post, August 21, 2014. 
[2] William Dotinga, “Grim Complaint Against Kaiser Hospital,” Feb. 6, 2012.
[3] Carol Mungas, athttp://www.montanansagainstassistedsuicide.org/2013/03/i-support-house-bill-505-which-clearly.html 

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Montana: HB 477 PASSES the House!

Yesterday, HB 477, which overrules Montana/s Baxter decision by clarifying that physician-assisted suicide is against public policy and prohibited, passed Montana's House of Representatives.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Montana one step closer to reversing Baxter.

Today, the Montana House of Representatives voted to pass HB 477, which clarifies that "physician-assisted suicide" is prohibited and against public policy in Montana.  

To view HB 477, please click here.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Montana, SB 202 Defeated!

On February 11, 2012, SB 202, which would have legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia in Montana, was tabled in Committee.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Montana: Defeat SB 202!

The Montana Legislature is considering SB 202, which if passed, would legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in Montana.

SB 202 is modeled on a similar law in Oregon.

The bill, if passed and interpreted in the same way as Oregon's law, will render young adults with chronic conditions such as diabetes, "eligible" for assisted suicide/euthanasia.  Such persons can live long healthy lives, for years, even decades.  See e.g., here, pp. 4-6 and here, p. A-39.

The bill, if passed, will create the following problems:
  • It will encourage people with years to live to throw away their lives. 
  • It will create new paths of elder abuse, especially in the inheritance context.  See e.g., here, p. 15 and here.
  • It will empower health care systems to steer patients to suicide, which is well documented in Oregon where assisted suicide is legal.  See e.g., here, p. 16, here, p. A-49 and here.
If the bill is passed, and Montana follows the "Oregon experience," other "conventional" suicides will increase, which will create serious public welfare/financial issues in Montana (in Oregon, conventional suicides are a $41 million problem, due to hospitalizations, injuring other people, rehab, etc).  See e.g., here, p. 18 and here, pp. A-70 to A-76.
To view documentation regarding other problems with legalization, please click here for the text; click here for the attachments

Please tell the Montana Legislature to vote "NO" on SB 202.

Thank you,

Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA, President
Choice is an Illusion, a human rights organization
206 697 1217.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

"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.
Protect yourselves and your families. Don’t let assisted suicide become legal in Montana.
Margaret Dore, president,
Choice is an Illusion,
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

Friday, September 19, 2014

Montana: 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  • 

A Roundup man in Montana State Prison for having sex with an underage girl is facing a new charge alleging he pressured the girl to kill herself during a live video chat in September 2013.

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.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Montana's Law Protected Me

Lucinda Hardy
I [Lucinda Hardy] 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.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Judge dismisses appeal; Montana group pleased that court addressed Baxter

Helena Montana - On December 13, 2013, District Court Judge Mike Menehan dismissed MAAS's appeal with the Montana Medical Examiners Board. The order ruled that the appeal was moot due to the Board's having recently rescinded "Position Statement No. 20."  (Order, pp. 5-8).  The order also refers to Montana's assisted suicide case, Baxter v. State, as providing a defense to a homicide charge, as follows:
On December 31, 2009, the Montana Supreme Court issued its opinion in Baxter v. State, 2009 MT 449, 354 Mont. 234, 224 P.3d 1211, in which it held that under section 45-2-211 MCA, a terminally ill patient's consent to physician aid in dying constitutes a statutory defense to a physician charged with the criminal offense of homicide.  (Order, page 2, lines 17-21).
This part of the order is consistent with Greg Jackson's and Matt Bowman's article, Baxter Case Analysis, Spring 2010 ("the Court's narrow decision didn't even "legalize" assisted suicide"). Available at http://www.montanansagainstassistedsuicide.org/p/baxter-case-analysis.html

Since Baxter, there have been two bills proposed in the Montana Legislature to legalize assisted suicide.  Both bills, SB 167 and SB 220, have failed.  Assisted suicide is not legal in Montana.

MAAS is disappointed with the dismissal, but pleased with that the order addresses Baxter, over which there is ongoing controversy as to its meaning.  MAAS will likely appeal.

* * *

For information about problems with assisted suicide and how it puts people at risk, see  http://www.montanansagainstassistedsuicide.org/p/quick-facts-about-assisted-suicide.html

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Montana Judge Hears Assisted Suicide Arguments


http://www.kxlf.com/news/montana-judge-hears-assisted-suicide-arguments/
Posted: Dec 11, 2013 4:38 PM by Sanjay Talwani - MTN News

HELENA - The issue of physician assisted suicide was in court Tuesday [December 10, 2013]
Judge Michael Menehan
Montanans Against Assisted Suicide is arguing that a policy position by the Montana Board of Medical Examiners implies that physician assisted suicide may be legal. 
A lawyer for the Board says that the position - since rescinded, says no such thing. Michael Fanning says the group bringing the lawsuit has no real case is trying to force the issue to the Montana Supreme Court.
The position paper, written in response to doctor inquiries, said that the board would handle complaints related to assisted suicide on a case-by-case basis as it would other cases.
Margaret Dore
Attorney for Montanans
Against Assisted Suicide (MAAS)
Margaret Dore, an attorney for MAAS, said the paper overstepped the Board's authority and implied to many that assisted suicide was legal in Montana.
"They are a board that is comprised of 11 doctors and two members of the public," she said. "It has no expertise to be making a pronouncement, that aid in dying is legal in Montana. That's the role of the legislature or a court and they are neither."
She said that such an understanding had huge implications in devaluing the lives of the sick and elderly.
That position paper - in response to the lawsuit - has since been rescinded by the Board and scrubbed from its website. But Dore said court action was still needed to prevent the Board from reinstating such a position.
She repeatedly asked District Judge Mike Menahan to weigh in on a Montana Supreme Court ruling known as Baxter, that envisions potential defenses to doctors charged with homicide for assisting with suicide.
But Menehan said it wasn't the role of a district judge to rule on a Montana Supreme Court order.
Craig Charlton
Attorney for MAAS
Michael Fanning, an attorney for the Board, said MAAS had no standing to bring the lawsuit, has suffered no damages from the Board's rescinded position and was simply jockeying to get the case before the Montana Supreme Court in hopes of overturning the Baxter ruling.
"This most certainly is a political question, a philosophical question or an academic debate, but it is not a lawsuit," he said. "In fact, this is a feigned case. It was contrived simply to bring this matter before you."
Menahan did not immediately rule on the case.
[Montanans Against Assisted Suicide is also represented by attorney Craig Charlton].

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Montana: Fight Over Assisted Suicide Moves Back to Court

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/fight-over-assisted-suicide-moves-back-to-court/article_7985baad-87a0-592a-b6dd-187073a4c47f.html?print=true&cid=print

Matt Gouras, AP

HELENA — The fight over physician-assisted suicide in Montana is moving back to the courtroom after the Legislature failed this session to clarify that the practice is specifically legal or illegal.

Montanans Against Assisted Suicide is trying to strike the state Board of Medical Examiners' policy that guides doctors in the matter.

A Helena judge has scheduled oral arguments for next month in the case. The lawsuit was filed in December.    Since then, the Montana Legislature failed in efforts to either clarify that the practice is specifically legal or illegal. It was the second straight session where lawmakers couldn't agree on which direction to take the state.

[To view the lawsuit's petition and attachments, click here , here and here]

Supporters of the procedure argue that Montanans should be allowed to decide themselves how to die when facing terminal illness. Opponents argue physician-assisted suicide is a recipe for elder abuse and the government has a responsibility to protect the vulnerable older population.

The procedure has been surrounded by various interpretations since the Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that nothing in state law prohibits physician-assisted suicide - but it did not rule on whether the practice is a constitutionally protected right. The decision said nothing in state law, or precedent, makes the procedure illegal.

A Board of Medical Examiners rule adopted last year says it would consider, on an individual basis, any complaints filed against a doctor for providing "aid-in-dying." Without formal laws guiding the procedure, there are no other state reporting or other requirements and it is unknown how common the practice is.

Montanans Against Assisted Suicide argues in its court case that it believes the Supreme Court never legalized the procedure with its 2009 decision, which it argues is much narrower than others are interpreting it. The group also argues that the board implemented its new rule without sufficient public notice.

The group argues that the board's position on the matter attempts to convince more doctors they will be protected if they assist a patient with suicide, which can be done with a prescription of drugs.

The lawsuit calls the rule "a significant toe in the door to the attempted backdoor legalization of assisted suicide."

The Montana Board of Medical Examiners has said that it wrote its position paper based on a request from a member. The board said its position does not pass judgment on the procedure one way or another.

The board said at the time it put the rule into place that the position paper was neither an administrative rule or a law, but merely informative guidance to its regulated members.