Posted on 01/10/2009 10:19:38 AM PST by wagglebee
Advocates of the new Washington law that will soon allow terminally ill patients to end their lives through lethal drugs expect Oregon's near-identical law to account for a record 55 deaths there in 2008.
A "very small number of people" probably will seek to use the law in its first year in Washington, said Robb Miller, executive director of Compassion & Choices of Washington, the state affiliate of the Portland-based group that advocates for what it calls "aid in dying."
Washington's Death With Dignity Act will take effect March 5. Washington voters approved Initiative 1000 to legalize the law in November. Washington would be the second state after Oregon to allow what opponents call "physician-assisted suicide."
Under the law, doctors could prescribe -- but not administer -- a lethal dose of medication if requested by Washington residents given six months or less to live.
The state Department of Health will hold a public hearing Feb. 10 on draft rules to implement the law, including reporting requirements for health care providers and the qualifications of witnesses for patients in long-term care facilities who make written requests for aid in dying.
Deaths attributed to Oregon's law in its first decade totaled 341, an average of 34 a year, with a high of 49 in 2007. Compassion & Choices volunteers have served as witnesses to deaths in about 85 percent of the cases.
The organization sees itself as the "steward of the law" and the "advocate and counselor" for those wishing to use the law in Washington, said Miller, one of several Compassion & Choices leaders who spoke Friday to reporters in Seattle.
About 40 of the deaths in Oregon involved patients whose doctors worked at hospitals, usually Catholic-run, that opposed aid in dying on moral grounds, said George Eighmey, executive director of Compassion & Choices of Oregon. (For the same reason, some pharmacists will not fill lethal prescriptions.)
In those cases, the doctors had to go away from the hospital during their off-duty hours to prescribe the lethal drugs, Eighmey said.
To avoid those hurdles, Miller and Eighmey said patients considering aid in dying at some point should not wait to find out their doctors' positions.
"The time for conversation is now," Miller said.
There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
The statement "In a country where church and state are separated, how dare anyone make a decision that violates the teachings of a Roman mystery cult" is mindless drivel.
Not only does this person not understand Christianity, he doesn't even understand the Constitution of the United States.
Yep. Suffering is noble, suffering is holy, Jesus suffered on the cross so by God they’re going to make you suffer too.
Suicide is mentioned only a few times in the Bible (Samson, Judas, two others I'm blocking on) but there's nothing even resembling a prohibition.
That people were and are willing tom die for what they believe doesn’t make them “pro-death.” Your argument that suicide isn’t mentioned much in the Bible doesn’t really prove anything.
Very true.
I am well aware that Luther condemned Church teaching that those who committed suicide were damned; however, this very different from advocating suicide.
I am not aware of ANY Protestant denomination that has historically condoned suicide nor am I aware of ANY denomination that would describe themselves as Evangelical that currently supports suicide.
If euthanasia/assisted suicide laws should not exist because of "separation of church and state" (a phrase which exists NOWHERE in the Constitution), then should we also remove laws against murder, theft and perjury? After all, they certainly had their roots in the Ten Commandments.
Uh....the commandment "thou shalt not kill" has no asterisks next to it.
It comes with no qualifiers.
The Scriptures make it clear that God alone is the author of life. The taking of life, whether it be our own or someone else's, is rebellion against God's dominion over life.
Actually, killing an innocent person is against the Natural Law, that Law is for everybody, Christian or not.
There's a story of Christians haranguing a Roman official to kill them. He told them to hang and drown themselves and leave him alone.
Got it, you consider Christianity to be a cult.
Do you have any proof that Constantine was "half-mad"?
Genuine martyrdom IS NOT suicide.
Yeah, just give him the loaded gun.
And the pharmacy can just "give" the person his "medication" without "administering" it. /s
Ghouls. Note they hover about those dying.
A couple months ago I had a sinus infection. My doctor prescribed an antibiotic. Was my doctor treating me or was he simply “assisting” me in treating myself.
When a doctor prescribes something which, if taken as directed, WILL result in death, the doctor is an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT in death.
Perhaps God gave us Reason for something other than quoting ancient books that have been translated through fifty languages like some great Chinese whisper down through time.
Am I really supposed to believe that scripts for Nembutal will inexorably lead to Dachau? C'mon.
Wait guys,, this is solid blue Oregon. It there some way we can accelerate it? Or authorize it for hayfever,,etc??
Treatment of illness IS NOT killing.
Am I really supposed to believe that scripts for Nembutal will inexorably lead to Dachau? C'mon.
Got it, ten million deaths is a problem, but a few dozen isn't a big deal.
You should try DU, nearly all of them agree with your pro-death, anti-Christian beliefs.
Are there any clauses in the legislation that a patient needs to be deemed sane and able to make life altering decisions on their own? The demon of death will not cease. He has begun to tighten his strangle hold on our society, and so many are blinded to it. May God open eyes and hearts to HIS TRUTH and HIS LIGHT. May He hear the cries of His children in protest, the cries for forgiveness for the sins of our country, and answer. God save us!
Ex:20:13: Thou shalt not kill.
Dt:5:17: Thou shalt not kill.
Dn 13:53 In judging unjust judgments, oppressing the innocent, and letting the guilty to go free, whereas the Lord saith: The innocent and the just thou shalt not kill.
Lk 18:20 Thou knowest the commandments: Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not commit adultery: Thou shalt not steal: Thou shalt not bear false witness: Honour thy father and mother.
Rom 13: 9 For Thou shalt not commit adultery: Thou shalt not kill: Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness:
Js 2: 11 For he that said, Thou shalt not commit adultery, said also, Thou shalt not kill. Now if thou do not commit adultery, but shalt kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
Satan is doing all he can to kill the unborn, the elderly, and those who have been given a medical "death warrant" in this country. We have seen God move in the answers to so many prayers here on FR and around us. People are once again placing themselves in the position of God, and determining life or death where they have no right. Blinded by Satan's lies. Heaven help us!
Assisted Suicide? Or Encouraged Suicide? It Still Should Be Opposed.
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