Today, Choice is an Illusion formally announces the launching of "End the Abuse," a website opposed to palliative care and hospice abuse.
The site specifically addresses problems with the closet euthanasia act proposed in last year's 115th Congress, the so-called "Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act."
We hope that you find the site helpful.
Why Choice is an Illusion?
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- Who We Are, What We Do and How We Do It
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- Margaret Dore Beats the Odds
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- Mother Died by Dehydration and Starvation
- Dore Law Review Article on Oregon and Washington
- Definitions
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- Margaret Dore Featured by Hope Australia
- Dore Lead Witness In Rhode Island
- Dore Opposes Right to Die in South Africa
Thursday, January 17, 2019
Friday, January 11, 2019
Federal Closet Euthanasia Act May Be Moving
By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA
Five days ago, an op-ed appeared in the New York Post advocating for Congressional passage of the "Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act."[1] The Act has not been introduced in the current (116th) Congress.[2] There are, however, rumors that it will be or that passage will occur by packaging it with other legislation. With the appearance of the op-ed, the veracity of these rumors is well founded.
The Act was introduced in the last (115th) Congress as H.R. 1676 and S. 693. Its stated purpose was to provide financial support for palliative care and hospice education centers, including direct patient care. The Act easily passed the House on a voice vote.[3]
There was and is, however, a catch.
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
US Euthanasia Bill All But Dead - For Now
Margaret Dore & Dawn Eskew |
The Act was viewed as noncontroversial. Indeed, H.R. 1676 passed the House on a voice vote without opposition.
There is, however, a catch.
This is because US euthanasia advocates are currently promoting "medical aid in dying" (euthanasia) as "palliative care."[1] There is a similar situation in Canada, where "lobbies are trying to influence the government to include so-called Medical Aid in Dying ... in palliative care."[2]
The significance is this: If the Act is passed into law and the above advocacy efforts are successful, medical aid in dying (euthanasia) will become part of palliative care and therefore part of the Act. More to the point, the Act will legalize and also finance euthanasia in government funded centers throughout the US. The Act is a closet or "springing" euthanasia bill.
Thursday, December 13, 2018
Dore Memo to New Zealand Justice Committee: Reject End of Life Choice Bill
Click here to view a pdf version, including supporting documentation. Click the following link to view Choice Illusion New Zealand.
By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA
I. INTRODUCTION
I am president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia.[1] I am also an attorney in Washington State USA where these practices are legal.[2] Our law is based on a similar law in Oregon.[3]
My background includes providing legal analysis and/or testimony against assisted suicide and euthanasia, in 22 US states, South Africa and Australia. I have participated in public debates as well as public interest litigation.
The “End of Life Choice Bill” seeks to legalize assisted dying, which means assisted suicide and euthanasia.[4] If enacted, the bill will apply to people with years or decades to live, and provide cover for murder. I urge you to recommend to Parliament to reject this bill.
By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA
I. INTRODUCTION
I am president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia.[1] I am also an attorney in Washington State USA where these practices are legal.[2] Our law is based on a similar law in Oregon.[3]
My background includes providing legal analysis and/or testimony against assisted suicide and euthanasia, in 22 US states, South Africa and Australia. I have participated in public debates as well as public interest litigation.
The “End of Life Choice Bill” seeks to legalize assisted dying, which means assisted suicide and euthanasia.[4] If enacted, the bill will apply to people with years or decades to live, and provide cover for murder. I urge you to recommend to Parliament to reject this bill.
Sunday, December 9, 2018
Patient-Directed Suicide Has Morphed into Family-Determined Suicide
Thomas Eppes, M.D. |
Recently the effort to legalize physician-assisted suicide has ramped up in Virginia. For 2,500 years, medicine has claimed the role of healer, but this dangerous public policy would change that by requiring a doctor’s participation in a patient’s demise .
Patients should never be conflicted about which role their physician plays.
Friday, November 23, 2018
New Zealand: From Scammers to Euthanasia Advocates, These Are Dark Days in Old Ladydom
To view original article, click here
OPINION: These are perilous times for tottering toward old ladydom. The women's mags cut your life support at 50 unless you're Helen Mirren, sooner if you're not, in which case you might as well sign up for the Philip Nitschke death machine, with optional funeral casket.
Rosemary McLeod |
Monday, November 19, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
Proposed Federal Palliative Care Act Is a Springing Euthanasia Bill
In 2012, an article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that many doctors object to physician-assisted suicide.[1] The article's authors, Dr. Lisa Lehmann and Julian Prokopetz, argued back that assisted deaths need not be physician-assisted.[2] They said that a central government mechanism should provide the assistance instead:
We envision the development of a central state or federal mechanism to confirm the authenticity and eligibility of patients' requests, dispense medication [the lethal dose], and monitor demand and use.[3]
Monday, November 12, 2018
Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Counseling Suicide to Obtain Life Insurance
Justice Peter Davis |
“However, one can imagine many circumstances arising where people in positions of trust and responsibility could succumb to the temptation to counsel suicide for personal gain.”
By Hope Australia
These confronting words were spoken last week by Justice Davis in the Supreme Court of Queensland, as he sentenced Graham Robert Morant to 10 years imprisonment for counselling his wife to commit suicide.
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Virginia: Legislative Panel Punts on Assisted Suicide-Euthanasia Proposal
Del. Scott Garrett, MD |
By Katie O' Connor, Virginia Mercury
A group of lawmakers shot down proposals to allow medical-aid-in-dying, also known as physician-assisted suicide [and euthanasia], in Virginia on Wednesday in a review of a series of legislative recommendations on health care.
Del. Kaye Kory, D-Fairfax, requested that the Joint Commission on Health Care study the medical-aid-in-dying debate, in which a patient with less than six months to live obtains lethal drugs through a physician to end his or her life.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Australia: Husband Who Aided Wife's Suicide to Obtain Her Life Insurance Sentenced to Prison
Graham Morant, AAP Dan Peled |
Graham Robert Morant was last month found guilty on two charges — counselling suicide and aiding suicide — for persuading his wife Jennifer Morant, 56, to kill herself in her car in 2014 and helping her buy the necessary equipment from a hardware store.
The court heard Morant was the sole beneficiary of Ms Morant's three life insurance policies, which Justice Peter Davis concluded was the motivation for his actions.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Why the Site HospiceFraud Exists
An excerpt below from "Hospice Fraud."
This is not a site that supports hospice haters. This is a site that inspires solutions. You can't totally eliminate care for the elderly, disabled or dying or you will just have euthanasia! You have to have some type of caring whatever you call it and originally hospice was the appropriate way of caring for people using the best of science to relieve suffering without killing.
Today, much greed in the industry and those who have found ways to make a lot of money off of human suffering have changed the landscape. Hospice patients are simply a money crop.
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Press Release: "Proposed Federal Hospice Act Must Be Defeated to 'Stop the Waste, Bleeding and Heartache'"
https://www.einnews.com/pr_ news/465588180/proposed- federal-hospice-act-must-be- defeated-to-stop-the-waste- bleeding-and-heartache
Washington DC
Dore: "Existing federal hospice programs, such as the Medicare hospice benefit, are plagued by fraud, poor quality care, rampant abuse, arguably murder, and a gross waste of taxpayer dollars. Enacting another federal hospice program, when existing programs are far from being under control, makes no sense and will only cause more of the same."
Washington DC
Dore: "Existing federal hospice programs, such as the Medicare hospice benefit, are plagued by fraud, poor quality care, rampant abuse, arguably murder, and a gross waste of taxpayer dollars. Enacting another federal hospice program, when existing programs are far from being under control, makes no sense and will only cause more of the same."
"If my doctor had believed in assisted suicide, I would be dead"
Jeanette Hall and her son, Scott, in November 2000 |
I live in Oregon where assisted suicide is legal. Our law passed in 1997 by a ballot measure that I voted for.
In 2000, I was diagnosed with cancer and told that I had 6 months to a year to live. I knew that our law had passed, but I didn’t know exactly how to go about doing it. I tried to ask my doctor, Kenneth Stevens MD, but he didn’t really answer me. In hindsight, he was stalling me.
Friday, October 19, 2018
Memo to the U.S. Senate HELP Committee: Vote No on the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act
By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA
For a summary sheet including a similar House bill (H.R. 1676), click here. For a pdf version of this memo, click here.
I. INTRODUCTION
I am an elder law attorney and president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia.[1] Formed in 2010, Choice is an Illusion fights against assisted suicide and euthanasia throughout the U.S. and in other countries.[2] We also fight against hospice and palliative care abuse.
S. 693, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education & Training Act," amends the existing Public Health Service Act to require financial support for “Palliative Care and Hospice Education Centers.”[3] This is a new program, which will include direct patient care.[4]
Existing federal palliative care programs, such as the Medicare hospice benefit, are plagued by fraud, poor quality care and a gross waste of taxpayer money.[5] S. 693 must be rejected unless problems with existing programs are resolved; Congress must not throw good money after bad. The bill must also be rejected for the reasons set forth below.
For a summary sheet including a similar House bill (H.R. 1676), click here. For a pdf version of this memo, click here.
I. INTRODUCTION
I am an elder law attorney and president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia.[1] Formed in 2010, Choice is an Illusion fights against assisted suicide and euthanasia throughout the U.S. and in other countries.[2] We also fight against hospice and palliative care abuse.
S. 693, the Palliative Care and Hospice Education & Training Act," amends the existing Public Health Service Act to require financial support for “Palliative Care and Hospice Education Centers.”[3] This is a new program, which will include direct patient care.[4]
Existing federal palliative care programs, such as the Medicare hospice benefit, are plagued by fraud, poor quality care and a gross waste of taxpayer money.[5] S. 693 must be rejected unless problems with existing programs are resolved; Congress must not throw good money after bad. The bill must also be rejected for the reasons set forth below.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Australian Man Convicted of Assisting Suicide
An Australian man has been convicted of aiding his wife's suicide, after a court heard he had coveted payouts from her life insurance.
Jennifer Morant, 56, had suffered from chronic pain but was not terminally ill when she died in 2014, a court heard.
A jury found that Graham Morant, 69, counselled and aided his wife to take her life. He had denied both charges.
Thursday, September 20, 2018
South Africa: Euthanasia Society President Charged with Murder of Disabled Man
Click here to view.
Sean Davison, a New Zealand citizen who was convicted of assisted suicide in Dunedin, appeared in a South African court on Wednesday on a murder charge.
The charge is in relation to the death of Anrich Burger, 53, who became a quadriplegic after a motor vehicle accident in 2005. He was not terminally ill.
Monday, September 17, 2018
The Letter the Kansas City Star Refused to Print
Dear Editor
I am an attorney and president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia. Formed in 2010, Choice is an Illusion fights against assisted suicide and euthanasia throughout the US and in other countries.
David Grube’s guest commentary claims that Oregon’s suicide rates “overall have gone down ... since its Death with Dignity Act went into effect in 1997.” This claim is false.
Australia: Man pleads not guilty to assisting his wife's suicide, as prosecutors claim he did so to access her life insurance
A 69-year-old man who has pleaded not guilty to assisting his wife to kill herself in 2014 had "1.4 million reasons" to intentionally help her end her life because she had three life insurance policies, a court has heard.
Graham Robert Morant is on trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on two counts, including one of counselling and one of aiding Jennifer Morant, 56, to kill herself.
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Roger Foley Challenges Canada's Euthanasia Law
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/denied-assisted-life-by-hospital-ontario-man-is-offered-death-instead-lawsuit
An Ontario hospital that wants to discharge a suicidal man [Roger Foley] with a crippling brain disease threatened to start charging him $1,800 a day, and suggested his other options included medically assisted death [non-voluntary euthanasia], according to a new lawsuit.
It also claims Canada’s new assisted dying laws are unconstitutional and should be struck down because they do not require doctors “to even try to help relieve intolerable suffering” before offering to kill a terminally ill patient.
An Ontario hospital that wants to discharge a suicidal man [Roger Foley] with a crippling brain disease threatened to start charging him $1,800 a day, and suggested his other options included medically assisted death [non-voluntary euthanasia], according to a new lawsuit.
It also claims Canada’s new assisted dying laws are unconstitutional and should be struck down because they do not require doctors “to even try to help relieve intolerable suffering” before offering to kill a terminally ill patient.
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in the Medicare Hospice Program Is ‘Repellent’
Joanne M. Chiedi |
By Joanne M. Chiedi
Like many Americans, I have a story about hospice care for a loved one. When my father was dying from complications of dementia and diabetes, hospice caregivers sat with him, provided pain relief, and helped him be comfortable. They also gave my mother peace of mind that her beloved husband was receiving kind attention in his final weeks. To this day, she refers to those hospice workers as angels.
Sadly, not every family’s story is a positive one.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Mexico Addresses Euthanasia
To read the entire article, click here
The Supreme Court has endorsed the right of Mexico City residents to use marijuana for medicinal purposes as established by the city’s constitution.
Eight of 11 judges ruled yesterday that the Constitutional Assembly of Mexico City, a body formed to create a new constitution for the capital, had not encroached on federal jurisdiction by including an article enshrining the right to use medicinal marijuana....
The Supreme Court also endorsed a range of other articles in the city’s constitution against which challenges had been filed, including the right to die with dignity, the right of access to water, the right to sexuality, the right for the local government to enter into agreements with international entities and the right for migrants not to be criminalized while in the capital regardless of their legal status.
With regard to the dignified death provision, the PGR argued that it effectively allowed for euthanasia and assisted suicide, which are prohibited under federal law and whose regulation is the exclusive domain of the federal government.
The Supreme Court has endorsed the right of Mexico City residents to use marijuana for medicinal purposes as established by the city’s constitution.
Eight of 11 judges ruled yesterday that the Constitutional Assembly of Mexico City, a body formed to create a new constitution for the capital, had not encroached on federal jurisdiction by including an article enshrining the right to use medicinal marijuana....
The Supreme Court also endorsed a range of other articles in the city’s constitution against which challenges had been filed, including the right to die with dignity, the right of access to water, the right to sexuality, the right for the local government to enter into agreements with international entities and the right for migrants not to be criminalized while in the capital regardless of their legal status.
With regard to the dignified death provision, the PGR argued that it effectively allowed for euthanasia and assisted suicide, which are prohibited under federal law and whose regulation is the exclusive domain of the federal government.
Monday, August 20, 2018
Northwest Montana Fair: Thank You to Our Volunteers!
Thank you to our volunteers who braved the smoke to join us at the 2018 Northwest Montana Fair in Kalispell.
We educated the public about problems with legalization, including how people with years to live are encouraged to throw away their lives, and fatal elder abuse.
Thanks especially, to everyone who worked the table, including Lucinda Hardy of Columbia Falls, Gail Bell of Bozeman and Linda Clark of Seattle. To read Lucinda's story, click here. To read Gail's story, click here.
We also heard from people who were considering assisted suicide for themselves. Two were older men who came to the booth about fifteen minutes apart. After learning more about the process, each signed our petition to the legislature to clarify the law, that assisted suicide is not legal in Montana.
Thank you again to everyone who made this event possible. Your time and monetary donations are invaluable.
Margaret Dore, President
Choice is an Illusion
We educated the public about problems with legalization, including how people with years to live are encouraged to throw away their lives, and fatal elder abuse.
Thanks especially, to everyone who worked the table, including Lucinda Hardy of Columbia Falls, Gail Bell of Bozeman and Linda Clark of Seattle. To read Lucinda's story, click here. To read Gail's story, click here.
We also heard from people who were considering assisted suicide for themselves. Two were older men who came to the booth about fifteen minutes apart. After learning more about the process, each signed our petition to the legislature to clarify the law, that assisted suicide is not legal in Montana.
Thank you again to everyone who made this event possible. Your time and monetary donations are invaluable.
Margaret Dore, President
Choice is an Illusion
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