Initiative Measure No. 1000 concerns allowing certain terminally ill competent adults to obtain lethal prescriptions.
This measure would permit terminally ill, competent, adult Washington residents, who are medically predicted to have six months or less to live, to request and self-administer lethal medication prescribed by a physician.
Should this measure be enacted into law?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
Death with Dignity… What could sound more ‘dignified’?
On its face assisted suicide seems like a sensible and humane policy.
My first inclination was to be against the initiative but then I heard the commercials featuring actor/activist Martin Sheen.
I am not sure I have ever been on the same side of an issue as Martin Sheen.
After further study I have decided that legalization of assisted suicide would still be a serious mistake for many reasons some of which are not always immediately evident (as evidenced by Sheen’s commercials).
Physician-assisted suicide and/or euthanasia proposals have been introduced in 21 states, some multiple times, since Oregon passed its law in 1994. Not one has passed.
But it is not just the Catholic Church and politicians who are against assisted suicide.
The American Medical Association and the state medical associations in 49 states, including Washington, oppose legalizing assisted suicide.
A Washington State Medical Association brochure, “I-1000 is not the Answer”, states the organization “strongly opposes” I-1000.
Initiative 1000 requires that two doctors must agree that an individual meets the law’s criteria.
But it doesn’t have to be your regular doctor.
In Oregon, where a similar law has been in place since 1994, there’s considerable evidence that a majority of people ’shop’ to find a doctor who will say yes.
In Washington you can already choose to refuse any medical treatment you don’t want.
You can already choose to receive good end-of-life and hospice care, excellent pain control, and the relief of discomfort.
Suicide is not a medical “treatment.”
Patients have a right to care, not to suicide.
Depression is natural for people diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Depression is usually temporary and treatable, but I-1000 doesn’t require professional assessment or treatment for depression.
The waiting period is only 15 days, so a suicidal “cry for help” could easily be met with lethal prescription, instead of encouragement and treatment.
Many feel they would find relief in hastening their own death, we, as a society, have long discouraged suicide as a remedy for psychological suffering.
I also believe that it is not the physical pain that frightens most people but rather the loss of independence and the indignity.
Fear of not being able to get out of bed on our own power and not being able to make your way to the bathroom.
We don’t want our loved ones to have to have wipe our backside.
But do we want to condone suicide just because we need help using the toilet?
Many people with disabilities would object to that being a criteria for self-worth.
To summarize, although it is argued that we should not legislate morality, I believe we definitely should not be legislating immorality.
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