Washington's terminally ill should have choice to end suffering
Friday, October 24, 2008 1:16 AM PDT
Printable version
E-mail this articleOct. 24 Daily News editorial
Of all the questions on the Nov. 4 ballot, Initiative 1000 — Washington’s Death with Dignity Act — is the most personal by far. It speaks to the most difficult and personal choice an individual might ever have to make. We would never presume to make that end-of-life choice for anyone else, obviously. And neither does this ballot measure. Initiative 1000 simply would give terminally ill individuals the legal authority to make this very personal choice.
We believe the power to make end-of-life choices is best left to the individual, in consultation with his or her physician and close family members. The state’s obligation is to make sure this legal authority is not abused at the patient’s expense, and we’re confident that I-1000 would meet that obligation. We are confident because Washington’s Death with Dignity Act has the same safeguards as Oregon’s voter-approved assisted-suicide law.
The patient wishing to use the law must be an adult and a Washington state resident, mentally capable of making and communicating his or her health care decisions, and diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months. Two physicians must decide whether these criteria have been met. The attending physician must inform the patient of alternatives, such as comfort care, hospice care and pain control. There is a waiting period before the life-ending medication can be obtained, and no one other that the patient may administer the medication.
Oregon’s experience with its law over the past decade easily demonstrates the effectiveness of these safeguards. Opponents’ fears that patients would flock to Oregon to die and the state had stepped onto a slippery slope of involuntary euthanasia proved baseless. Since the law was passed in 1997, 341 terminally ill patients have used it to shorten their suffering. That’s a tiny fraction of the nearly 99,000 Oregonians who died of the same terminal diseases during the past decade.
Last year, 85 prescriptions for lethal medications were written under the Oregon law. Of those, 46 patients actually took the medications. Twenty-six died of their disease and 13 were alive at the end of 2007. For many of these patients, the peace of mind they derived from knowing they had an alternative to prolonged suffering at the end of life was enough.
The patients who have used Oregon’s law to end their lives did not do so because of money worries or lack of adequate care, as some feared might happen. The typical patient has been college-educated, insured and enrolled in hospice care. Oregon’s law has worked as proponents predicted, offering terminally ill patients a legal end-of-life alternative to prolonged suffering. Washington’s terminally ill should have the same choice. The Death with Dignity Act would provide it.
Previous Daily News endorsements:
Cowlitz County Commission (Oct. 10)
Washington secretary of state (Oct. 12)
Washington state treasurer (Oct. 12)
State Representative, 18th District, position 2 (Oct. 14)
Initiative 985, traffic congestion (Oct. 15)
State Senate, 18th District (Oct. 16)
U.S. House, 3rd District (Oct. 17)
State Representative, 18th District, position 1 (Oct. 21)
Superintendent of pulic instruction (Oct. 22)
Nunesy wrote on Oct 24, 2008 9:43 AM:
Rural Citizen wrote on Oct 24, 2008 11:15 AM:
THAT is why I don't think a commercial interest should have the power of life or death over people. I voted NO. I voted early. I want folks to call KATU and complain on this guy's behalf. That's where I sent the story tip. "
Past Month's Most Commented Stories