Patients Unprotected Due to "Eraser" Clause (Paragraph 25)

Debating Chamber

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

New Zealand's bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia has passed first reading.[1]

The bill's explanatory note claims that patients will be protected by a "comprehensive set of provisions to ensure free choice, made without coercion." In fact, patients who die under the bill will not even be protected against predators who willfully fail to follow the touted provisions.

Update: Woman Who Mistakenly Thought She had a Terminal Illness Meets Her Rescuers

BC:  A Ladysmith artist who survived five hours in the frigid waters of the Salish Sea in late October and the rescuers who gave her a second chance at life were both struck with emotion as they met again in Ladysmith on Sunday.

 “They were absolutely amazing and so compassionate and it was just such a beautiful meeting – I totally remembered the faces of the two guys that pulled me out of the water, ” said Mya DeRyan.

Woman Tries To Kill Herself After Terminal Diagnosis Only To Find Out It Was Wrong

By Katie Serena

After receiving a terminal diagnosis, Mya DeRyan decided to end her life on her own terms -- but things didn't quite go as planned.

A Canadian woman has discovered a “new lease on life” after a close call with death.

Last month, Mya DeRyan was fished from the frigid waters off the coast of Vancouver, after jumping from the deck of a ferry.

Is Self-Administration Enforceable?

By Margaret Dore, Esq.

Victoria's deceptively named Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill uses the term, "self-administer," at least 30 times.[1] Indeed, self-administration of the lethal dose was a major selling point of the bill, to convince the public and Parliament that patients would be in control.

But, the term is not defined.

Wrap Up Australia: New South Wales and Victoria

Rachel Carling-Jenkins, Victoria MP

Two weeks ago, the Upper House of New South Wales defeated a bill seeking to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia.[1] Last week, Victoria's Upper House went the opposite direction, voting to approve a similar bill 22 to 18.[2]

The vote in Victoria was disappointing, but featured a marathon debate in which MPs, such as Rachel Carling-Jenkins, focused on what the bill actually said and did, which is not what proponents claim.

The Victoria bill is expected to return to the Lower House to address amendments.

For more detail regarding Australia, click here.

Diane Coleman's Letter to Members of the Victoria Legislative Council Opposing Assisted Suicide

Diane Coleman, JD

I am writing behalf of Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights group in the U.S. that opposes legalization of assisted suicide. We understand that a proposal in Victoria would pertain specifically to neuromuscular disabilities. This letter will focus on misdiagnosis and the uncertainty of terminal predictions by doctors, as well as the significance of breathing support for those of us with these conditions. My own experience illustrates the issues.

Australia: Bill to Legalize Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Defeated in New South Wales

NSW Legislative Council

Today, the New South Wales' Upper House voted against a purported "Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill."

The bill would have legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia, on both a voluntary and non-voluntary basis, for dying and non-dying people. The vote 19 to 20.

To learn more about assisted suicide and euthanasia in Australia, click here.

South Dakota: Measure Dead

An initiated measure, seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in South Dakota, is dead. From the Associated Press:

"Supporters said Monday that they didn't collect enough signatures for the proposed ballot questions."

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to get this result.

Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA, President

Victoria: Elder Abuse Demands No Vote

Margaret Dore

Margaret Dore, an experienced attorney specialising in elder law in Washington State, where assisted suicide is legal, has urged Victorian MPs “to reject the proposed bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.”

Her analysis of the purported "Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2017," which would legalise euthanasia as well as assisted suicide, can be read in full here.

Dore points out that in “Oregon and Washington State, most people who die under their [assisted suicide] laws are elders, aged 65 or older. This demographic is already an especially at risk group for abuse and financial exploitation. This is true in both the US and Australia.

An Open Letter to the Parliament of Victoria: Say "No" to Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia

I am a lawyer in Washington State USA where assisted suicide is legal. Last year, I presented as an expert on assisted suicide to a Victoria Parliamentary Committee in Oregon USA. I am writing to urge you to vote "No" on the proposed euthanasia bill, which allows non-voluntary deaths for non-dying people.  

Specific problems:

1. Patient protections are unenforceable due to the bill's "accordance" language;
2. Assisting persons can have an agenda, for example, to obtain an inheritance, or in the case of a doctor, to obtain cover for medical error.
3. The bill allows the death to occur in private without witnesses. If the patient objected, or even struggled, who would know?

Victoria's Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Bill: Oregon's Statistics Provide Little, If Any, Support for Passage Due to Physical Pain

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

According to Oregon’s official government statistics, there were 47 people who died under its assisted suicide law in 2016, who expressed the following concerns:

Inadequate pain control or concern about it. (Emphasis added).[1]

With use of the word, “or,” the total number of persons with inadequate pain control could have been zero. In the alternative, the total number could have been as high as 47.

Margaret Dore Analysis Opposing Victoria Euthanasia Bill

Council Chamber

To view this analysis as a pdf, click the following links containing, an index; a memo; and an appendix

I.  INTRODUCTION

I am an attorney in Washington State USA where assisted suicide is legal.[1] I am also president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia. Last year, I met with a parliamentary delegation from the Legal and Social Issues Committee, Parliament of Victoria, to discuss Oregon’s law and related issues.

Washington’s law is based on Oregon’s law. Both laws are similar to the proposed bill, titled the “Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill.” The bill, however, is not limited to voluntary deaths or to people near death. I urge you to reject this measure.

Teen Accused of Helping Friend Commit Suicide Could Face Trial for Murder

Jchandra "Jelly" Brown

To see article and video, click here.

PROVO, Utah (KSTU) -- A judge will decide if a Spanish Fork man will face trial on a murder charge in the suicide of a 16-year-old girl.

Utah County prosecutors argue that Tyerell Przybycien's actions led Jchandra Brown to kill herself, and he should be tried for first-degree felony murder and a class B misdemeanor charge of failure to report a body. His defense lawyers argued that Brown was responsible for her own actions.

Washington Post: "I’m dying of brain cancer. I prepared to end my life. Then I kept living."

To view the entire article, click here.

In April 2015, at the age of 55, I was diagnosed with one of the most lethal and aggressive brain tumors, a brainstem glioblastoma multiforme in an advanced stage. The prognosis was both grim and precise: Without treatment, I might have a few months; with treatment, I could last six months. If I beat overwhelming odds, I’d toast the new year one last time.

Bi-Partisan Resolution Opposing Assisted Suicide Introduced in Congress

By Rebecca Duberstein

Congressman Wenstrup

Yesterday on September 27, Congressman Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) held a press conference announcing the introduction of a resolution (H.Con.Res.80) expressing the sense of Congress that assisted suicide “puts everyone, including those most vulnerable, at risk of deadly harm and undermines the integrity of the health care system.”

New Zealand: Māori Party Candidate Urging No Vote on Labour Due to Assisted Suicide Support

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/09/m-ori-party-do-not-vote-for-labour-over-euthanasia.html

A Māori Party candidate is urging people not to vote for Labour because of the party's stance on assisted suicide.

In a statement released by the party, Tuilagi Saipele Esera, Māori Party Candidate for Manukau East, said Labour's intention to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide was against Christian and Pacific cultural values. . . .

The Death with Dignity Bill was put to Parliament in 1995 and 2003 but failed to pass. In 2012, the End of Life Choice Bill was also unsuccessful.

U.S. House Votes to Repeal D.C.'s Death With Dignity Law (Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia)

Rep. Tom Graves

By Jenna Portnoy, The Washington Post

The U.S. House on Thursday passed a spending bill that would block five laws affecting the District of Columbia, including the city’s new assisted-suicide law.

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the District’s nonvoting representative in Congress, must now rely on the Senate to not take up and approve identical measures. If the Senate does not act, it would effectively stall for another year congressional efforts to rein in the District through spending-related measures.

Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that has jurisdiction over the District, said Congress by law has extensive power over the District but has allowed the city to assume more power over time.