Monday, June 22, 2015

SB 128 Questions & Answers

For more detailed information
click on these links to see a
 memo and attachments by
attorney Margaret Dore.
See also this press release.


1.  What does SB 128 do?

SB 128 seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.

2.  What is physician-assisted suicide?

In the context of SB 128, a doctor writes a prescription for a lethal dose of medication for the purpose of a patient's suicide. Other people, such as family members, are allowed to assist the suicide, for example, by: suggesting suicide to dad; picking up the lethal dose at the pharmacy; and handing the lethal dose to dad for the purpose of his committing suicide.  

3.  What is euthanasia?

Euthanasia is the direct administration of a lethal dose by someone else to cause another person's death.

4.  How does SB 128 create the perfect crime?

Older people with money are already at risk of abuse and even death at the hands of their family members and other predators wanting an inheritance, life insurance, etc.  With SB 128, there is the creation of the perfect crime:

  • The death is allowed to occur in private, without witnesses.  Even if the person struggled, who would know?
  • After the person dies, the death certificate is REQUIRED to reflect a natural death.*
  • Death benefits under a will or due to life insurance are required to be paid out as if the person had died of a terminal disease.*

5.  Why is it true that people eligible for assisted suicide/euthanasia may have years, even decades, to live? 

SB 128 applies to people with a “terminal disease,” which is defined in terms of a doctor’s determination of less than six months to live. In real life, such persons can have years, even decades to live.  This true for many reasons, including:

  • The six months to live determination is made without treatment.  People with chronic conditions, such as insulin dependent diabetes, are “terminal” for the purpose of assisted suicide because they are dependent on insulin to live:  Without insulin, they will with reasonable medical certainty die in less that six months.
  • Predicting life expectancy is not an exact science so that doctors are sometimes wrong, and sometimes way wrong.
  • Treatment can lead to recovery.

*  Recent amendments to SB 128 did not eliminate the requirement that the death certificate be falsified to reflect a terminal disease.  Rather they moved the requirement to the fine print.  See memo, pp 6-8.  

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

California Assembly Health Committee: Vote NO on SB 128

I am an attorney from Washington State where assisted suicide is legal.  Enclosed please find a memo and attachments in opposition to SB 128.  Points include:
  • SB 128 will legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia for young adults with chronic conditions such as diabetes.
  • There is a complete lack of oversight when the lethal dose is administered (even if the patient struggled, who would know?)
  • The bill requires falsification of the death certificate, which will prevent legal recourse and justice to patients and their families harmed by the bill.
If SB 128 becomes law, people with years, even decades to live, will be encouraged to throw away their lives; patients and their families will be traumatized. 

SB 128, as written, will allow the perfect crime.  Even if you like the concept of assisted suicide and euthanasia, SB 128 is the wrong bill.

Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA
Law Offices of Margaret K. Dore, PS
Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation
www.margaretdore.com
www.choiceillusion.org
1001 4th Avenue,  Suite 4400
Seattle, WA  98154

206 389 1754

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Sign Our Petition!

Sign our petition against SB 128:

1.  Click this link to print a petition.

2.  Print the petition from the link above, sign it, get your friends and neighbors to sign it, and fax the completed petition to 206 389 1530.

3.  For any questions, contact:  contact.turnoutcalifornia@gmail.com

YOUR ACTION WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE - THANK YOU!

Choice is an Illusion

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

"Medical killing is already occurring in California and elsewhere, which is causing much suffering and tearing families apart"

Dear Senators,
I am writing to urge you to vote "NO" on SB 128, which seeks to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Medical killing is already occurring in California and elsewhere, which is causing much suffering and tearing families apart. 
California cases are documented at this website link to the Kaiser papers: http://kaiserpapers.org/abt.html
Another case in point is my mother who died a horrible death by medically supervised dehydration.  See here.
Meanwhile, attorney Margaret Dore reports on two cases in her recent press release involving legal assisted suicide, in which both patients and their families were traumatized: the second case implies an actual murder.  See here.
It's time to stop the madness. Please send a strong statement by voting NO.
What happens in California will likely affect the rest of the world. I urge you to please vote against SB 128.
Thank you,
Kate Kelly, B.A., B.Ed.
Northwest Territories, Canada

Monday, June 1, 2015

Dr. Bill Toffler: "I hope that California does not repeat Oregon’s mistake."

Dear Senator,

I have been a professor of family medicine and a practicing physician in Oregon for more than 30 years. I write to provide some insight on the issue of assisted suicide, which is legal in Oregon, and which has been proposed for legalization in California (SB 128, which seeks to pass an Oregon-style assisted suicide bill).

Oregon’s law applies to “terminal” patients who are predicted to have less than six months to live.  In practice, this idea of “terminal” has recently become stretched to include people with chronic conditions, such as “chronic lower respiratory disease” and “diabetes”.  Persons with these conditions are considered terminal if they are dependent on their medications, such as insulin, to live.  They are unlikely die in less than six months unless they don’t receive their medications.  Such persons, with treatment, could otherwise have years or even decades to live.

This illustrates a great problem with our law — it encourages people with years to live, to throw away their lives.