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.

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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.