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Life
Issues /
Family
Ethics
Political
Action
Committee
of
Southwest Washington
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Dr. Kenneth R. Stevens, Jr., Professor Emeritus and retired Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Oregon Health Sciences University, and Vancouver family practice physician Dr. Jim Heid cited a number of studies and read from the writings of assisted suicide proponents and others to make their case: end-of-life care should focus on use of advance directives, aggressive pain management and palliative care, and increased use of hospice, rather than legalization of assisted suicide. Both men argued that, contrary to proponents' assertions, pain is not the issue. Dr. Heid pointed to a study of assisted suicide in Oregon in which 1 in 5 people requesting assisted suicide listed pain as one of their considerations. However, he said, they weren't reporting "current, ongoing pain," but rather fear of possible future pain. Both doctors said our ability to control pain has increased dramatically in recent years. "There is not one case in Oregon of assisted suicide being used for actual untreatable pain," said Dr. Stevens. "Pain can be treated." The doctors said that the goal of the initiative's proponents is to use physician-assisted suicide as a stepping stone on the way to legalizing, in Dr. Stevens's words, a "magic pill" for "anyone, any age, any condition" who wishes to die. Dr. Heid pointed out that Washingtonians "already have the right to die, the ability to say no to medical treatments, to say 'this is futile, I want to stop treatment.'" Suicide, he said, is already an option. "There are books that tell you how, websites." He said that the issues proponents raise as reasons for I-1000—"fear of loss of autonomy, loss of dignity, loss of ability to enjoy life, loss of bodily functions, fear of pain, of being a burden on family and friends"—apply to many people who aren't terminally ill, but are disabled or chronically ill. The initiative, however, would permit a doctor to give a lethal overdose to a patient only if the doctor feels the patient has six months or less to live. "So if I-1000 isn't going to meet the goals of its proponents, what is its purpose?" he queried. He answered with the words of former Washington Governor Booth Gardner, who is actively campaigning for Initiative 1000, that "it's a 'first step,'" and then read a passage by Derek Humphry, founder of the Hemlock Society, who wrote that proponents' ultimate goal is legalization of euthanasia. Dr. Heid quoted former Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who wrote, in Washington v. Glucksberg, that "Washington has ample justification for its concerns" that "permitting assisted suicide will start it down the path to voluntary and perhaps even involuntary euthanasia." Dr. Heid emphasized that I-1000 would fundamentally alter the doctor/patient relationship. "It will take us back 2500 years," he said. "Hippocrates said the doctor had to answer to the gods. Now we're back to no accountability." He said several major medical associations, including the Washington State Medical Association, state affiliate of the American Medical Association, and the Washington Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, oppose I-1000. Both men said that I-1000 is dangerous to vulnerable populations, including the disabled and the poor. Dr. Heid said there is a disconnect between our inclination to recognize rights and provide accommodations for people with disabilities, and the assumption that "nobody with that quality of life would want to live." Proponents of assisted suicide, he said, say that "there are situations worse than death," but he pointed out that disability-rights advocates—including Not Dead Yet, American Association of People with Disabilities, Justice for All, and the National Council on Disability—are strongly opposed to I-1000. Dr. Stevens warned that financial concerns may lead to assisted suicide as an answer to rising medical costs. He cited the recent Oregon cases of Barbara Wagner, a 64-year-old Springfield grandmother with lung cancer, and Randy Stroup, a 53-year-old Lane County man with prostate cancer, each of whom got a letter from the Oregon Health Plan which Stevens summarized as saying, "We won't pay for chemotherapy; however, you are eligible for assisted suicide." Dr. Heid concluded the forum with the words of Dr. Brian Wicks, president of the Washington State Medical Association: "We believe physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the role of physicians as healers. Patients put their trust in physicians and that bond of trust would be irrevocably harmed by the provisions of this dangerous initiative. Initiative 1000 gives doctors power which we do not want and which we believe is contrary to good medical practice. The initiative is a dangerous distraction from symptom-directed end-of-life care that provides comfort for dying patients and their families. Our focus should remain on caring for terminally ill patients and should never shift toward helping them kill themselves."
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