In Oregon, BushCo opposes "Death With Dignity" says CNN

[Atman]

Now there's one for the obvious file! BushCo opposes Death With Dignity. They'd much prefer death in a flooded attic, death on a rooftop, death by an IED, death by bird flu...but so help me god, NO DEATH WITH DIGNITY, DAMMIT!

[SCDem]

1. Their against state's rights

[TallahasseeGrannie]

2. Can you define "Death with Dignity"?

[Ron Green]

4. I think it would be in a friendly place, in minimal pain, with loved ones

around.

And maybe somewhat on your own terms, if you know your malady is not going to be cured.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

5. I have no problem with the "somewhat on your own terms"

as long as I am not asking someone to "put me to sleep."

I can see potential problems there for mis-use (let's kill Grannie!) and also as a person of the "thou shalt not kill" persuasion, I think it is asking someone to stain their own souls for my comfort.

My own dad had a living will. He got to where he could no longer swallow. We withheld water and food because that was his wish. It was hard. It took 11 days. But I could not have personally administered anything to have made it shorter.

I agree there should be some legal limits here because, let's say, the nursing home might have needed his bed. A little shot of morphine would have done us all a lot of good, but oh what a slippery slope that would be.

[Ron Green]

6. It is a slippery slope, and that's why a state should be thoughtful about

how they write their laws. I believe Oregon's law is well-written, and it has served the residents of this state for several years.

Bush's masters, of course, are seeking to bring their totalitarian views to bear on it.

[MissB]

11. Your fears aren't justified

in Oregon, at least.

The person must ask for the prescription from their doctor. No one can make that request for them. They must be of sound mind to request the prescription. They must be diagnosed with a terminal illness that will end their life within six months. They must see the doctor to make the request in person - twice, with at least 15 days between visits. The attending physician and a consulting physician must agree on the diagnosis (two doctors). If depression is evident, the doctor must require a psychological exam. The doctor must advise the patient of alternatives.

It isn't an easy process. Gramps isn't going to be "put out to pasture" early because the nursing home needs a bed.

Not everyone who has obtained the necessary prescription has used it. Some people just get it for peace of mind- knowing that they have the ability to end their own life if they choose is apparently enough for some.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

12. That sounds like a perfectly sensible law. (edit. for spelling)

[MissB]

13. And that is probably why the Bush administration opposes it.

[stevedeshazer]

16. TGrannie, let me explain how it works.

It's often called "doctor-assisted suicide", but that term is misleading.

Say you've got a terminal disease, you are in horrible pain, and there's no hope of getting better. Your life is a blur of pain. You know you'll die a horrible death in a hospital or nursing home.

If two doctors agree with the diagnosis, and you've been deemed of sound mind and capable of making your own decision to die on your own terms rather than being forced to prolong your own suffering to fill the sick needs of some religious nuts who want to meddle in your own life, a doctor MAY prescribe drugs for you in a fatal dose.

It's up to you to take them yourself. Your decision, no one can force you.

For those who make the choice, typically 50-100 per year in a state of just over three million, pain and suffering are eased.

I heard an interview just yesterday of a woman whose mother had taken this route. The daughter was fully supportive. She was with her mom, who drank the drugs in a cocktail of some fashion. Five minutes later she slipped into a coma, and died peacefully within fifteen minutes.

I'll be damned if I want GWBush, Alberto Gonzales, and the rest of the crazed right wingers let my own mom, myself, or other family members take this option off the table. How I choose to live and die is my own damn business, not the feds.

Hope that helps. :)

[donkeyotay]

18. Good explanation of a good law. Strong bi-partisan support in Oregon

who voted for it twice. Oregonians don't want to be told that someone else controls how their own life ends. About half the people who get the right to use the option don't. They just want to know they can. It's about having control. It's about being able to die at home with loved ones instead of in some corporate hospital.

[Vanje]

8. "Death with Dignity" is what voters in Oregon overwhelmingly mandated...

....Twice!


Now he Federal Justice Dept wants to punish Oregon physicians by yanking licenses of those MDs who use this Oregon law to give comfort to their dying patients who ask for it.

[dr.strangelove]

19. It was hardly overwhelmingly mandated

I spent hundreds of hours supporting Measure 16 and opposing Measure 51 and was glad to have been on the winning side both times. But in 1994 it was 51-49. In 1997 we had more support, but still had a relatively close call with about 58-42.

[stevedeshazer]

20. But we won, regardless

Thanks for working on those campaigns. :)

[dr.strangelove]

21. Very True

A win is a win. I just think it was a very hard fought campaign and I don't like peole thinking it was an easy victory. It discounts the hard work of many good people. I remember standing in front of Fred Meyer on the hottest day I ever felt getting signatures and making hundreds of phone calls to explain the complicated structure of the plan. It was a sweet victory, and that is was so close made all the work seem worth it.

[stevedeshazer]

17. See post #16 in this thread n/t

[Dez]

3. How could ANYONE

be 'pro life', and pro war?? It's beyond me.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

7. Very inconsistent

Like pro-life and pro-capital punishment

I am not Catholic but I admire the Catholic church for being at least consistent on all of them.

No flames: not advising we all convert, just saying that they are consistent in these issues.

[melody]

9. So much for states' rights

[Hobarticus]

10. I see their gerbil-like attention span has already forgotten Schaivo

and how the public reacted overwhelmingly against government intervention in cases as such.

[stevedeshazer]

14. Bush is making (another) big mistake

I'm from Oregon. His most recent approval rating here stands at 35%. And that was LAST month.

http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=94f06db9-1685-4cc1-964d-f49dcbe55e8c

We voted this thing in TWICE, by an even wider margin the second time.

Oregonians don't like meddling by the federal government. We're so far removed from most of the country, we prefer to do things our own way.

Despite what many of you think, Oregon is not some Democratic stronghold. There are roughly equal groups of Democrats, Republicans, and independents. The independents rule the vote here.

If Bush continues assaulting Oregon's laws (don't forget medical marijuana, same deal), he's setting the stage for keeping Oregon in Democratic hands for years to come.

We haven't had a Republican governor since the 1980s, but Republicans have controlled the state legislature for many years, and our Democratic governor is not popular. The Democrats took the state senate recently, and are poised to take the house back next year.

Bush is jabbing a sharp stick in the eye of Republicans in Oregon, too.

[dogday]

15. He will be the first one to call for the extra morphine

if he was in that position. He would not want to struggle and be in agony knowing he was going to die in a few weeks or months. He would cry out to end it, because that is the kind of person he is...

[Straight Shooter]

22. bush doesn't even have a clue what the word "dignity" means. n/t

[bee]

23. in other words.., buscho supports prolonged suffering.

shocking. :sarcasm:

[Atman]

25. What, 5 years isn't enough?

(No sarcasm at all!)

[bee]

26. You said it Atman. Five years is MORE than enough.

And I shudder to imagine the state of the world after three more.

[gauguin57]

24. In Oregon, only 208 people used the assisted-suicide option in 7 years

(1997-2004). I think that shows it's being applied with great restraint. Just because a law exists, doesn't mean people are going all hog-wild, killing themselves willy-nilly.