Disability group welcomes ruling against right to assisted suicide in Mass.

To view whole article, click here.

John Kelly, Second Thoughts

Boston, Mass., Jan 14, 2020 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- Second Thoughts Massachusetts, a disability rights group, has praised a recent ruling that there is not a right to assisted suicide in the state's law or its constitution.

In a decision dated Dec. 31, 2019, Justice Mary Ames of the Suffolk Superior Court ruled that physicians who prescribe lethal medication for assisted suicide in Massachusetts can be prosecuted for involuntary manslaughter, but that physicians may provide information and advice on assisted suicide to terminally ill, competent adults.

“We are gratified that the court reaffirmed the law against assisted suicide, and referred the matter to the legislature where lawmaking belongs. Disability rights advocates will continue to press the legislature that assisted suicide is just too dangerous,” John Kelly, director of Second Thoughts, commented Jan. 13.

Reject New York Medical Aid in Dying Act (Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia)

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

Click the links to view a pdf version of this document, consisting of a memorandum and appendix.

I. INTRODUCTION 

The proposed bills amend New York’s public health law by  adding a new article (28F), the Medical Aid in Dying Act.[1] The Act is based on similar laws in Oregon and Washington State.[2]

“Aid in Dying” is a euphemism for euthanasia.[3] The Act, however, purports to prohibit euthanasia.  On close examination, this prohibition will be unenforceable.

If enacted, the Act will apply to people with years or decades to live. It will also facilitate financial exploitation, especially in the inheritance context. Don’t render yourself or someone you care about a sitting duck to heirs and other predators. I urge you to reject the proposed Act.

Press Release: New Jersey Aid in Dying Act Unconstitutional

Margaret Dore, Esq.

Aid in Dying Means Euthanasia

TRENTON, NJ, UNITED STATES -- Attorney Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, a non-profit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia, has filed a friend of the court brief in Glassman v. Grewal, which seeks to overturn New Jersey's Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act.

"Aid in Dying" is a euphemism for euthanasia. Dore's brief argues that the Act is stacked against the individual, not limited to people near death and unconstitutional due to the way it was enacted.

Join Us in New York on January 14th

Event to be live streamed
To view, click here.

     

Purported Suicide Statistics Released in Vermont

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

According to an article in Monday's Vermont Digger: 

The report released this week — which covered the two years between July 1, 2017, June 30, 2019 — said that 34 patients qualified for the terminal prescriptions under Vermont’s law. Of those, 24 had cancer, four had ALS, three had neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s, and three others had unspecified conditions.

A few years ago, I investigated a death under Oregon's similar law in conjunction with attorney Isaac Jackson. There was a near complete lack of transparency in which even the police were unable to obtain verifying information regarding deaths under the law. To learn more, click here.

New Jersey "Aid in Dying Act" Is Unconstitutional

To view the filed print version, including the appendix, click here.

I.  IDENTITY OF AMICUS

Margaret Dore is a licensed attorney in good standing in Washington State where assisted suicide is legal. She is appearing pro se.

Dore is a former Law Clerk to the Washington State Supreme Court and the Washington State Court of Appeals. She worked for a year with the United States Department of Justice and has been in private practice since 1990. She is also president of two nonprofit corporations opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia: Choice is an Illusion, a 501(c)4 nonprofit corporation; and the Foundation for Choice is an Illusion, a 501(c)3 public charity.

Dore has personally appeared and testified against assisted suicide and/or euthanasia in at least 20 US legislatures, and also internationally. Her CV is attached in the appendix, at pages A-1 through A-4. For more information see www.margaretdore.org and www.choiceillusion.org.

II. STATEMENT OF RELIEF SOUGHT

Invalidation of the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act (“the Act”).[1]

Help Us Help You

Margaret Dore and Elaine Kolb,
after testifying in Connecticut

Choice is an Illusion and its president, Margaret Dore, work with other people and groups throughout the US and internationally, to stop and reverse the spread of legal assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Dore is a fourth generation lawyer in Washington State USA, where her work has included guardianship and family law.  She has seen the terrible things that people do to each other for money. This includes court-appointed guardians who steal from the very people they are charged to protect. 

Delaware: Seemingly Dead Euthanasia Bill Could Start Moving

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

HB 140, while it failed to pass in the 2019 legislative session or even come to a vote, is still alive due to Delaware's having a two year legislative cycle.

Per Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, the seemingly dead bill could start moving in the 2020 session. He's right. We must be prepared.

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]

ADA Will Trump Euthanasia Prohibition

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

Bills in New York State seek to pass a medical aid in dying act.[1] "Aid in dying" is a euphemism for active euthanasia, meaning the administration of a lethal agent to another person.[2][3]

The act also prohibits euthanasia, stating:

A health care professional or other person shall not administer the medication [lethal dose] to the patient. (Emphasis added).[4]

This prohibition is, however, unenforceable. This is due to the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).

That’s Not Assisted Suicide, That’s Murder

To view original article, click here

A Montreal couple is calling for disciplinary measures against a psychologist they say counselled one of them to kill the terminally ill other.

When Miranda Edwards was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer she said she was determined to fight it.

“I want to live, I want every medical intervention possible,” she said. “I will fight to the end. I will do every treatment, everything possible to stay alive.”

Speaking in Washington State USA

Margaret Dore

This evening, Margaret Dore, a lawyer and president of Choice is an Illusion, was the featured speaker at St. Louise Parish Hall in Bellevue, Washington State.

Her main topics included problems with assisted suicide in Washington and how to win in the future against legalization. She also discussed suicide contagion in Oregon.

To learn more about assisted suicide in Washington State, click here, here and here.

Special thanks to Debby Ummel who organized the event.

Washington State Act Must Be Overturned

Click here for pdf version.

Washington State’s Death with Dignity Act was passed by the voters as Initiative1000. During the election, backers touted it as providing "choice" for individuals. A glossy brochure declared, "Only the patient — and no one else — may administer the [lethal dose]." The Act does not say this anywhere.[1]

•  The Act legalized assisted suicide as that term is traditionally defined. In the fine print, the Act allows euthanasia.

New Office of Inspector General Report: Hospice Deficiencies Pose Risks to Medicare Beneficiaries

WHY WE DID THIS STUDY  

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has identified significant vulnerabilities in the Medicare hospice benefit and found that hospices did not always provide needed services to beneficiaries and sometimes provided poor quality care.  Click here to view report.

"Do or Refer" Doctors Are Not Allowed to Use Their Best Judgment for Individual Patients (No More Jeanette Halls)

Jeanette Hall with her son Scott
shortly after she changed
her mind.

Margaret Dore Esq., MBA*

Yesterday, a doctor asked me about "do or refer" provisions in some of the newer bills seeking to legalize assisted suicide in the United States. For this reason, I now address the subject in the context of a 2018 Wisconsin bill, which did not pass.

The bill, AB 216, required the patient's attending physician to "fulfill the request for medication or refer," i.e. to write a lethal prescription for the purpose of killing the patient, or to make an effective referral to another physician, who would do it.

The bill also said that the attending physician's failure to comply would be "unprofessional conduct" such that the physician would be subject to discipline. The bill states: