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The Coalition Against Assisted Suicide is a broad-based coalition that includes doctors, nurses, hospice workers, Democrats, Republicans, minorities, members of the disability community, people of faith -- and those without. A partial list is here. If you'd like to join, click on the button below.

 

Rheba de Tornyay
Dean Emeritus,
University of Washington School of Nursing:
"My husband survived for 28 months and died last year. But at the end, to my astonishment, I realized I could no longer support physician-assisted suicide. ...Much of my change stems from my discovery, common to surviving spouses, that life is precious to the end."

 

Read it yourself.

I-1000 proponents don't want you to know what's really in the initiative. It's dangerous and puts vulnerable Washingtonians at risk. Here's the full text of the initiative. (PDF) (Word)

Learn More About I-1000

I-1000, the proposed assisted suicide initiative is touted as giving individuals “choice” regarding their end of life decisions. However, as written and in practice, I-1000 would give the actual choice to other people. I-1000 lacks real safeguards, and would affect access to health care.

What's Wrong with the Proposed Assisted Suicide Law?

Any law that allows doctors to terminate the lives of their patients is unwise and runs counter to thousands of years of civilization. But this proposed law is especially flawed, without the safeguards or monitoring to protect patients.

What would the proposed initiative do?

I-1000 allows doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to "terminal" patients so they can use it to kill themselves. The patient meets with an “attending physician” and a “consulting physician" and then fills out a written request form, witnessed by two people. I-1000 allows one of these witnesses to be an heir. Once the lethal dose is issued by the pharmacy, there is no oversight. The death is not required to be witnessed.

Aren't there "safeguards?"

There are no real safeguards. Common sense tells us that no one who benefits from a death should be involved in giving lethal drugs. Next of kin do not have to be notified. Depressed or mentally ill patients can still receive the lethal prescriptions. All reporting is done on the "honor system" with the records sealed from public view. There are no penalties for doctors who fail to report their activities.

How would I-1000 affect health care?

If I-1000 is passed, health care insurers in Washington will be able to follow Oregon’s lead to steer patients to "chose" voluntary suicide. Consider the case of Barbara Wagner. The Oregon Health plan refused to pay for an expensive cancer drug to prolong her life, but offered to pay for her assisted suicide instead. Unable to afford the cancer drug herself, she was steered towards suicide.

For every patient who “chooses” the suicide option, the insurer saves money. The insurer does not even have to pay for comfort care as the patient is already dead.

See: Rita Marker, Oregon’s Suicidal Approach to Health Care, American Thinker, September 14, 2008; Susan Donaldson James, Death Drugs Cause Uproar in Oregon, ABC News, August 6, 2008 and video of Barbara Wagner

Under present law, vulnerable people, especially senior citizens and the poor, are protected from the actions of other people. It is illegal for health care insurers to steer them towards suicide. With the passage of I-1000, this will no longer be true.

What is the view of those who deal most closely with the dying?

The Washington State Medical Association (the state affiliate of the AMA), the Washington Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the Washington State Hospital Association do not support assisted suicide.

Here's more information and these fact sheets (in PDF format) ready to print and use:

• Questions and answers
• Key Facts about I-1000
• Oregon Abuses

Read the opinion piece on Initiative 1000 by Dr. Herbert Hendin, professor of psychiatry and internationally recognized expert on suicide and suicide prevention.

Read it yourself.

I-1000 proponents don't want you to know what's really in the initiative. It's dangerous and puts vulnerable Washingtonians at risk. Here's the full text of the initiative.
(PDF) (Word)

© 2008 Coalition Against Assisted Suicide - PO BOX 11794 - Olympia Washington 98508