tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62046992861831398182024-03-25T17:07:24.795-07:00MinnesotaA non-profit corporation opposed to assisted suicide, euthanasia and other forms of imposed death, worldwideUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-650971727439752202024-01-25T16:04:00.000-08:002024-01-25T16:05:48.633-08:00John Kelly Provides Written Testimony Opposing Assisted Suicide<p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVaJzlNObvNEiMEWJnWhsOILd0FGlNd880S-IKgu10YDS8AulibRZ5XOk_RqH-u64FnU-A-RYc0TJ5yrZG49dc0nps5rAFfVeG47TRgN6mw68wxdImJh97O5K1e0E58TQH9aL9Hkj1kvUEG8Ud_frXa7fZL8dFr6Q-x2bdvv4WSYUtPqp1I5SSNLXbbvDQ/s692/John-Kelly-Boston-Globe-photo.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="692" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVaJzlNObvNEiMEWJnWhsOILd0FGlNd880S-IKgu10YDS8AulibRZ5XOk_RqH-u64FnU-A-RYc0TJ5yrZG49dc0nps5rAFfVeG47TRgN6mw68wxdImJh97O5K1e0E58TQH9aL9Hkj1kvUEG8Ud_frXa7fZL8dFr6Q-x2bdvv4WSYUtPqp1I5SSNLXbbvDQ/w215-h145/John-Kelly-Boston-Globe-photo.webp" width="215" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">John Kelly, Boston Globe Photo</span></td></tr></tbody></table>There is no way to contain eligibility to a narrow set of people. Especially when thousands of disabled Americans now live with conditions that in some states are seen as “worse than death.” Anorexia nervosa and diabetes can now qualify as terminal conditions. Once death is accepted as a positive outcome of medical care, it inevitably gets offered to more and more people.</p><p></p><p>The problem for us disabled people is that we are already treated badly in the medical system. As medicine has focused increasingly on patient “quality-of-life” as a barometer of life-worthiness, death has been re-characterized as a benefit to an ill or disabled individual. Most physicians (82%, a 2020 Harvard study found) view our “quality-of-life” as worse than non-disabled people.</p><div><br /></div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314132820263802243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-13219781125655452882024-01-04T16:53:00.000-08:002024-01-09T09:22:56.475-08:00Jesse Bethke Gomez Regarding Physician Assisted Suicide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj75DX-kOD8qoUmKW24jSt69cc7YkpJZbz2VKS8iW6Dc9cQgxZaKoYWRi6lSvvwvoDHMFxTvKbpvuqdDPjtDcExKnPnoeHLjy46tS7sc8Kr2mbm2DoTMaP2_sxDVQvepSBSN79jqs7Z0p7SmnuLCfdvyVS5v5dRgWRc-mgofMgEG5G-2FOrBiVpp6hYY2k/s642/Jesse-Bethke-Gomez-Portrait-sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="500" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj75DX-kOD8qoUmKW24jSt69cc7YkpJZbz2VKS8iW6Dc9cQgxZaKoYWRi6lSvvwvoDHMFxTvKbpvuqdDPjtDcExKnPnoeHLjy46tS7sc8Kr2mbm2DoTMaP2_sxDVQvepSBSN79jqs7Z0p7SmnuLCfdvyVS5v5dRgWRc-mgofMgEG5G-2FOrBiVpp6hYY2k/w116-h149/Jesse-Bethke-Gomez-Portrait-sm.jpg" width="116" /></a></div>In my healthcare career in service to people with apparent, and non-apparent
disabilities and to older adults, I am deeply concerned about why legislation to
legalize physician-assisted suicide in Minnesota is especially harmful to people
with disabilities and also to older adults. The proposed bill would exacerbate
many complex problems in healthcare, and would result in the devaluation of
people with disabilities and older adults.<br /><br />
Physician-assisted suicide is opposed by the National Council on Independent
Living, the National Council on Disability and the American Medical Association.
In my role as Executive Director of Metropolitan Center for Independent Living,
we provide services to people with apparent and nonapparent disabilities in
advancing independent living. I join these national organizations and the
Minnesota Alliance for Ethical Healthcare in opposition to this harmful
legislation that has the potential to place in great risk people with
disabilities and older adults.<br /><br span="" /><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>
As a former president for 17 years of a Rule 29 mental health clinic a licensed
Rule 43 outpatient treatment center for children, families and individuals, and
a licensed day center for older adults, I know that today, we face a severe
mental health crisis for children, families and adults. The current level of
need for mental health services surpasses the behavioral health sector’s ability
to meet this demand throughout Minnesota. Legalizing physician-assisted suicide
would make it a “standard of care” requiring providers to provide both
life-saving and life-ending medical advice. Let’s stop for a moment and think
about what that means especially for individuals with the nonapparent disability
of severity, chronicity and acuity of an ongoing mental health diagnosis. Any
individual with any level of a mental health diagnosis should not have to be
placed in potential jeopardy by a physician in which the option is life or
death; The proposed physician assisted suicide law would create such a reality.
This potentially leads to the devaluation of people over time.<br /><br />
The devaluation of those who are at-risk is underscored by a 2019 National
Council on Disability report that stated legalization of physician-assisted
suicide perpetuates the “historical and continued devaluation of the lives of
people with disabilities by the medical community, legislators, researchers, and
even health economists” by promoting “unequal access to medical care, including
life-saving care.” The report goes on to say where physician-assisted suicide
laws have been enacted there is a suicide contagion such that, “In Oregon,
government reports show a statistical correlation between assisted suicide under
the Oregon law and an increase in other suicides.” Is this what we want in
Minnesota?<br /><br />
For Minnesota, let’s make sure we understand the dire consequences of physician
assisted suicide laws. Physician assisted suicide could potentially create a
rise in other suicides in Minnesota. This would be especially concerning during
a time in which the demand for services, are greater than our ability to meet
the acuity, severity and chronicity of that demand. Physician Assisted Suicide
legislation poses too many unintended consequences at a time our state’s mental
health service providers are in crisis in meeting current demand for
services.<br /><br />
Furthermore, to highlight the unequal access to care for people with
disabilities and older adults, I point to federal laws, and related state
services and benefits, that require asset limitations of $2,000 for individuals
and $3,000 for couples in order to receive those services and benefits. Those
monetary restrictions have been fixed at those same dollar amounts since 1983 –
40 years of the exact same dollar amounts as fixed asset requirements. As a
Nation and for Minnesota we should not have laws with these fixed assets frozen
in time for 40 years. People with disabilities and older adults already see
their care options severely reduced due to these severe asset limitations. When
real healthcare is expensive for people with disabilities and physician-assisted
suicide is cheap how will life-saving care be denied or rationed to those most
in need? I would rather see us as a Nation and as a State of Minnesota,
eliminate the $2,000 individual and $3,000 couple asset limitations and include
an adjusted cost of living for all on these benefits and services and to require
a cost-of-living adjustment annually, not just for some services but for all
benefits and services for people with disabilities and older adults.<br /><br />
Just as this notion of financial “burden” has become more prevalent, it’s not
surprising that the Oregon Department of Health has reported that 52 percent of
patients stated their fear of being a burden to family, friends and caregivers
as a primary reason for seeking life-ending medication. Fear of pain and
suffering did not even make the top five. This view of disability and of aging,
also aligns with documented refusals by insurance companies to cover life-saving
care, when we need to disrupt all this as conventional thinking. The real
question here is what is our commitment to one another as a democracy, with
regard to the historical gap in the level of benefits, services, supports and
asset limitations endured by people with disabilities and older adults over many
generations?<br /><br />
What is required, instead of physician-assisted suicide, is equity of care -
better access to care and community supports and integration for all. I am in
favor of increasing funding, services and benefits for people with disabilities
and older adults. I am also in favor of increasing mental health funding,
services and benefits for children, families and individuals who are in need of
them throughout Minnesota especially in the area of suicide prevention. I am in
favor of solving the PCA worker shortage crisis across Minnesota and throughout
the United States of America. It is time to overcome the indifference to the
needs of people with disabilities and older adults, which is at the root cause
of the growing crisis to thousands of people in Minnesota and millions of people
across the United States of America who seek to realize their inalienable rights
to independent living.<br /><br />
Physician-assisted suicide legislation is not real healthcare. As we find our
way as a society having endured a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, too many
individuals are already in crisis and too much is at risk for children,
families, individuals, people with disabilities and older adults. If we have
learned anything from this pandemic is that we are at our very best as a
society, when we work together to advance the ability of people to care for one
another, and that ought to be our guiding principle before us as a bridge over
indifference in our legislative pursuits for the health, and well-being for all,
along with needed human services and supports for people who rely upon them for
daily living in Minnesota and throughout our Nation.<br /><br />
Jesse Bethke Gomez, MMA is Executive Director of the Metropolitan Center for
Independent Living which is a member of the Minnesota Alliance for Ethical
Healthcare.
</p>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314132820263802243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-16095433484685488442021-03-09T21:08:00.005-08:002021-03-09T21:14:36.389-08:00Assisted Suicide Is a Danger to Us All<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div><span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/letters/6734352-Letter-Assisted-suicide-is-a-danger-to-us-all&source=gmail&ust=1615429931960000&usg=AFQjCNGGtJxxEYD61toeq76CShzdAdOwVw" href="https://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/letters/6734352-Letter-Assisted-suicide-is-a-danger-to-us-all" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.postbulletin.com/<wbr></wbr>opinion/letters/6734352-<wbr></wbr>Letter-Assisted-suicide-is-a-<wbr></wbr>danger-to-us-all<br /></a></span></div><div style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: small; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORilkdZGT6uyIb4miqa8lrm6nB0dSm2pwqVRVwxgPHZkKTcuSjD-pDZNUtPb59TV42L74ZWzfZ6XCQxMqXBzgc4Lu73YSPQpPved_gvQ_QoiI_YwHEZQY-WPB4STZHlKzcPgeWwdtSHBh/s203/photo+flag+bright+blue+203+x+135.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="135" data-original-width="203" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhORilkdZGT6uyIb4miqa8lrm6nB0dSm2pwqVRVwxgPHZkKTcuSjD-pDZNUtPb59TV42L74ZWzfZ6XCQxMqXBzgc4Lu73YSPQpPved_gvQ_QoiI_YwHEZQY-WPB4STZHlKzcPgeWwdtSHBh/w170-h114/photo+flag+bright+blue+203+x+135.jpg" width="170" /></a></div>Proposed legislation to legalize assisted suicide lacks safeguards.</div><div><div>Written By: Paul Stark | 10:30 am, Mar. 9, 2021</div></div></div><a style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></a><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div><p>Arne Carlson says that Minnesota should legalize assisted suicide (“Medically assisted death is not a partisan issue,” March 2). He says the proposed bill to do so contains adequate safeguards. He’s wrong.</p></div><div><p>The legislation includes no safeguards once the lethal drug has been dispensed. And it doesn’t guard against the pressure insurers may exert if they offer to cover suicide but not life-extending treatment. That’s happened in some states that already have assisted suicide laws.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Moreover, the bill doesn’t require a psychiatric evaluation before a patient is given a lethal prescription. In the states with assisted suicide, suicide-seeking patients virtually never undergo such an evaluation, and some people with histories of depression have received assisted suicide rather than treatment.</p><p>Carlson says people who are “suffering from a terminal illness” should be eligible for assisted suicide. Yet six-month prognoses are often unreliable. Government data from other states shows that some patients have qualified for assisted suicide only to live for years after.</p><p>Carlson tells us that this shouldn't be a partisan issue. He's right about that. Republican or Democrat, assisted suicide is a danger to all of us.</p></div></div>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314132820263802243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-87320979152211245312020-06-09T00:30:00.017-07:002021-03-09T20:06:19.223-08:00Bills Seek to Legalize Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia <div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 25px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7XXiKmR425GMht3VoQyuixX0kJJ1S4W7BR0bP9A0Cg1YFfvaIEvNJGvZgxDy6VACZFHZRsG6dVE4STYUJC9hLKEgV9mFSGjGZ2iGgHEYvWaXkADQZf2s5fUtbKmm-iPzq-QjP34M_Sy57/s1600/Photo+Capitol+151+x+151.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="151" data-original-width="151" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7XXiKmR425GMht3VoQyuixX0kJJ1S4W7BR0bP9A0Cg1YFfvaIEvNJGvZgxDy6VACZFHZRsG6dVE4STYUJC9hLKEgV9mFSGjGZ2iGgHEYvWaXkADQZf2s5fUtbKmm-iPzq-QjP34M_Sy57/w155-h120/Photo+Capitol+151+x+151.jpg" width="155" /></a>Three bills were introduced in the 2019-2020 Minnesota Legislative <span style="background-color: transparent;">Session, seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined. </span>The bills are <a href="https://www.deathwithdignity.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2019-MN-HF-2152.pdf" target="_blank">HF 2152</a>, <a href="https://www.deathwithdignity.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2019-MN-SF-2286.pdf" target="_blank">SF 2286</a> and <a href="https://www.deathwithdignity.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2019-MN-SF-2487.pdf" target="_blank">SF 2487</a>. For more information, see bill histories <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=HF2152&b=house&y=2019&ssn=0" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=Senate&f=SF2286&ssn=0&y=2019" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?f=SF2487&b=senate&y=2020&ssn=0" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 25px;">
On September 11, 2019, there was an <a href="https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/bills/unofficialstatus/HF2152/91/2019/0" target="_blank">informational meeting</a> in the House Committee on Health and Human Services regarding HF 2152.<br />
<br />
For information about similar bills in prior years, click <a href="https://www.choiceillusionminnesota.org/2017/04/reject-legislation-seeking-to-legalize.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://www.choiceillusionminnesota.org/2016/06/dore-memo-opposing-assisted-suicide.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314132820263802243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-20138019871781416772017-04-26T13:06:00.000-07:002020-06-08T17:44:18.080-07:00Reject Legislation Seeking to Legalize Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia (HF 1885 & SF 1572)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptTyherYIsMtrOfYdUVishHVR1yFSqUuRk1P2owcOcBOqZIC-r-AUwPOMeypWCGLjeCj2ne1kv8fidoqm2CS6N2496dr27JI1riJc-btupeD1bpBXMgMT0-kEY_3br7MLDe9Syi5aAcvc/s1600/CapitolQuadrigaECU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhptTyherYIsMtrOfYdUVishHVR1yFSqUuRk1P2owcOcBOqZIC-r-AUwPOMeypWCGLjeCj2ne1kv8fidoqm2CS6N2496dr27JI1riJc-btupeD1bpBXMgMT0-kEY_3br7MLDe9Syi5aAcvc/s200/CapitolQuadrigaECU.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Golden Quadriga,</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA<br />
<br />
To view as a pdf, click here: <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/corrected-final-2017-event-index.pdf" target="_blank">index</a>, <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/final-2017-event-memo.pdf" target="_blank">memo</a> and <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a>. For a handout, <a href="http://www.choiceillusion.org/2017/04/mn-big-fat-fib-handout.html" target="_blank">click here</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>I. INTRODUCTION</b><br />
<br />
I am an attorney in Washington State where assisted suicide is legal,[1] Our law is based on a similar law in Oregon. Both laws are similar to HF 1885 and SF 1572, which seek to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined.[2]<br />
<br />
The bills are sold as a promotion of patient choice and control, which is not true: The bills are stacked against the patient and a recipe for elder abuse.<br />
<br />
The bills also apply to persons with years or decades to live. Passage will encourage such persons to throw away their lives. I urge you to reject HF 1885 and SF 1572.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b>II. DEFINITIONS</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>A. Physician-Assisted Suicide; Assisted Suicide; and Euthanasia</b></blockquote>
The American Medical Association (AMA) defines physician-assisted suicide as occurring when “a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform the life-ending act.”[3] For example:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[T]he physician provides sleeping pills and information about the lethal dose, while aware that the patient may commit suicide.[4]</blockquote>
Assisted suicide is a general term in which an assisting person is not necessarily a physician. Euthanasia is the direct administration of a lethal agent to cause another person’s death.[5]<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>B. Withholding or Withdrawing Treatment</b></blockquote>
Withholding or withdrawing treatment (“pulling the plug”) is not euthanasia if the purpose is to remove burdensome treatment, as opposed to an intent to kill the patient. More importantly, the patient will not necessarily die. Consider this quote from Washington State regarding a man removed from a ventilator:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[I]nstead of dying as expected, [he] slowly began to get better.[6]</blockquote>
<b>III. FEW STATES ALLOW ASSISTED SUICIDE</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>A. This Year, the South Dakota Legislature Passed</b> <b>a Nearly Unanimous Resolution Opposing Assisted Suicide</b></blockquote>
This year, the South Dakota Legislature passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 11, opposing physician-assisted suicide.[7] The vote was 32 to 3 in the Senate and 67 to 1 in the House.[8] The vote to pass was nearly unanimous.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>B.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Last Year, the New Mexico Supreme Court Overturned Assisted Suicide in New Mexico</b></blockquote>
Last year, the New Mexico Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that had recognized a right to physician aid in dying, meaning physician assisted suicide.[10] Physician-assisted suicide is no longer legal in New Mexico.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>C.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Five Other States Have Strengthened Their Laws Against Assisted Suicide</b></blockquote>
In the last six years, five other states have strengthened their laws against assisted suicide. Those states are Arizona, Louisiana, Georgia, Idaho and Ohio.[11]<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>D.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Few States Allow Assisted Suicide</b></blockquote>
Oregon and Washington State legalized assisted suicide via ballot measures in 1997 and 2008, respectively. Since then, just three states and the District of Columbia have passed similar laws (Vermont, California and Colorado). In the fine print, these laws also allow euthanasia.<br />
<br />
<b>IV.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>ELDER ABUSE</b><br />
<b><br /></b>Elder abuse is a prevalent and largely hidden problem throughout the United States, including Minnesota.[12] Perpetrators are often family members who start out with small crimes, such as stealing jewelry and blank checks, before moving on to larger items or to coercing victims to change their wills or to liquidate their assets.[13] Perpetrators can also be calculating criminals. Consider Melissa Ann Shepard, the “Internet Black Widow,” who preyed on lonely older men. A 2016 article states:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[These men] sought companionship and found instead . . . someone who siphoned their savings, slipped drugs into their food and, in the case of one man, ran him over with a car and left him dead on a dirt road.[14]</blockquote>
<b>V.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>THE BILLS</b><br />
<br />
The bills provide a process to terminate an individual’s life via a lethal dose of medication. Once the lethal dose is issued by the pharmacy, there is no oversight. No witness, not even a doctor, is required to be present at the death.<br />
<br />
<b>VI.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>DECADES TO LIVE</b><br />
<br />
The bills apply to persons with a “terminal illness,” meaning those predicted to have less than six months to live.[15] Such persons may, in fact, have years or decades to live. This is true for three reasons:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>A.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Six Months to Live Will Likely Be Determined Without Treatment</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></blockquote>
The bills state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Terminal illness” means the final stage of an incurable and irreversible medical condition that an attending physician anticipates, within reasonable medical judgment, will produce a patient’s death within six months.[16]</blockquote>
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Oregon’s law has a similar definition, as follows:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Terminal disease” means an incurable and irreversible disease that has been medically confirmed and will, within reasonable medical judgment, produce death within six months.[17]</blockquote>
In Oregon, this similar definition is interpreted to include chronic conditions such as chronic lower respiratory disease and diabetes mellitus (better known as “diabetes”).[18] Oregon doctor, William Toffler, explains:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[P]eople with chronic conditions are “terminal” [for the purpose of Oregon’s law] <i>if without their medications, they have less than six months to live</i>. (Emphasis added).[19]</blockquote>
Dr. Toffler adds:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is significant when you consider that a typical insulin-dependent 20 year-old will live less than a month without insulin.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Such persons, with insulin, are likely to have decades to live; in fact, most diabetics have a normal life span given appropriate control of their blood suga</i>r.[20] (Emphasis added).</blockquote>
Dr. Toffler also addresses the Minnesota definition, as follows:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>[T]his definition would also apply to a person with a chronic condition such as insulin dependent diabete</i>s. This is because the final stage of the disease itself is a failure to produce insulin, such that the affected person is dependent on insulin treatment to live.[21]</blockquote>
If Minnesota enacts the proposed legislation and follows Oregon’s interpretation of terminal disease, assisted suicide and euthanasia will be allowed for people with chronic conditions such as insulin dependent diabetes. Such persons, with insulin, can have years or decades to live.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>B.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Predictions of Life Expectancy Can Be Wrong</b></blockquote>
Eligible persons may also have years to live because predictions of life expectancy can be wrong.[22] Consider John Norton, who was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) at age 18.[23] He was told that he would get progressively worse (be paralyzed) and die in three to five years.[24] Instead, the disease progression stopped on its own.[25] In a 2012 affidavit, at age 74, he states:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If assisted suicide or euthanasia had been available to me in the 1950's, I would have missed the bulk of my life and my life yet to come.[25] </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>C.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Treatment Can Lead to Recovery</b></blockquote>
Consider also Oregon resident, Jeanette Hall, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and made a settled decision to use Oregon’s law.[27] Her doctor convinced her to be treated instead.[28] In a 2016 declaration, she states:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This July, it will be 16 years since my diagnosis. If [my doctor] had believed in assisted suicide, I would be dead.[29]</blockquote>
If the proposed legislation is enacted, people like Jeanette Hall, with years or decades to live, will be encouraged to throw away their lives.<br />
<br />
<b>VII.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>PATIENT CHOICE AND CONTROL IS AN ILLUSION</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>A.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>A Comparison to Probate Law</b></blockquote>
The bills provide a lethal dose request form with two required witnesses[30] One of the witnesses is allowed to be the patient’s heir who will financially benefit from the patient’s death[31]<br />
<br />
When signing a will, having an heir act as one of two witnesses can support a finding of undue influence. Washington State’s probate code, for example, provides that when one of two witnesses receive a gift under a will, there is a rebuttable presumption that the gift was procured “by duress, menace, fraud, or undue influence."[32] The bills’ lethal dose request form, which allows an heir to act as one of two witnesses, invites coercion.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>B. Other People Are Allowed to Speak for the Patient</b></blockquote>
A person obtaining the lethal dose is required to be “capable” or have “capacity,” which are specially defined terms.[33] These terms allow which another person to speak for the patient if the speaking person is “familiar with the patient’s manner of communicating.” The bills state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;">"</span>Capable" or "capacity" means</i>, in the opinion of the patient's attending physician, consulting physician, or licensed medical professional, if an opinion is requested by the attending or consulting physician, that <i>the patient has the capacity to make and communicate an informed medical decision to health care providers, including communicating through</i> a translator, interpreter, mechanical device, or <i>a person familiar with the patient's manner of communicating</i>. (Emphasis added).[34]</blockquote>
Note that the communicating or speaking person is not required to be the patient’s designated agent, for example, under a power of attorney.[35]<br />
<br />
Being familiar with a patient’s “manner of communicating” is regardless a very minimal standard. Consider, for example, a doctor’s assistant who is familiar with a patient’s “manner of communicating” in Spanish, but she, herself, does not understand Spanish. That, however, would be good enough for her to speak for the patient during the lethal dose request process. With this situation, patient choice and control is far from guaranteed.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>C.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Patients Do Not Have the Right to Be Told About Options for Cure</b></blockquote>
Patients are to make an “informed decision,” which means being fully informed of feasible alternatives and health care treatment options, “including but not limited to hospice and palliative care.” The bills state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Informed decision" means a decision by a qualified patient to request and obtain a prescription for medication that the qualified patient may self-administer for a peaceful death, that is based on an understanding and acknowledgment of the relevant facts and after being fully informed by the attending physician of: . . .</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(4) the feasible alternatives and health care treatment options, including but not limited to hospice and palliative care. (Emphasis added).[36]</blockquote>
With this language, patients do not have the right to be told about options for cure. This is due to the doctrine of statutory construction, ejusdem generis. Per the doctrine,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
the general wording of a statute <i>must be interpreted to include only matters of the same kind or class as those specifically listed</i>. (Emphasis added).[37]</blockquote>
With the informed decision provision set forth above, its general wording, that a patient is to be “fully informed,” must be interpreted to include only matters of the same kind or class as those “specifically listed,” which is “hospice and palliative care. These specifically listed items concern palliation, not curative care.[38] For this reason, patients do not have the right to be told about options for cure. Without the right to full information, patient choice and control are not guaranteed.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>D.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>“Even If a Patient Struggled, Who Would Know?”</b></blockquote>
The bills have no required supervision over administration of the lethal dose.[39] In addition, the drugs used are water and or alcohol soluble, such that they can be injected into a sleeping or restrained person without consent.[40] Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director for the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, puts it this way:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
With assisted suicide laws in Washington and Oregon [and with the proposed bills], perpetrators can . . . take a “legal” route, by getting an elder to sign a lethal dose request. <i>Once the prescription is filled, there is no supervision over administration. Even if a patient struggled, “who would know?”</i> (Emphasis added).[41]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>E. <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;">T</span>he Death Certificate Will List a Terminal Illness as the Official Cause of Death, Which Will Prevent Prosecution for Murder</b></blockquote>
The bills state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the attending physician may sign the qualified patient’s death certificate. <i>The qualified patient's underlying terminal illness shall be listed as the cause of death</i>. (Emphasis added).[42]</blockquote>
The significance of requiring a terminal illness to be listed as the cause of death on the death certificate is that it creates a legal inability to prosecute. The official legal cause of death is a terminal illness (not murder) as a matter of law.<br />
<br />
More to the point, a perpetrator will be let off the hook. The bills will create the perfect crime.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>F.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Someone Else Is Allowed to Administer the Lethal Dose to the Patient</b></blockquote>
Generally accepted medical practice allows a doctor, or a person acting under the direction of a doctor, to administer prescription drugs to a patient.[43] Common examples of persons acting under the direction of a doctor include parents who administer drugs to their children and adult children who administer prescription drugs to their parents.[44]<br />
<br />
The bills describe prescribing the lethal dose as a “medical practice.”[45] They also say that a patient may self-administer the lethal dose.[46] There is no language that administration “must” be by self-administration.[47]<br />
<br />
With prescribing the lethal dose a medical practice and self-administration not mandatory, generally accepted medical practice allows the prescribing doctor, or a person acting under his or her direction, to administer a prescription drug (the lethal dose) to the patient. Someone else is allowed to administer the lethal dose to the patient.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>G.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Allowing Someone Else to Administer the Lethal Dose Is Euthanasia</b></blockquote>
Allowing someone else to administer the lethal dose to the patient is "euthanasia" under generally accepted medical terminology. The American Medical Association's Ethics Opinion, “Euthanasia,” 5.8 states:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Euthanasia is the administration of a lethal agent <i>by another person to a patient</i> . . . (Emphasis added).[48]</blockquote>
The proposed bills allow euthanasia as traditionally defined.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>H.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Euthanasia Is Not Prohibited</b></blockquote>
The bills appear to prohibit “active euthanasia,” which is defined to include “assisting a suicide.” The bills state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Nothing in this section authorizes a physician or any other person to end a patient's life by</i> lethal injection, mercy killing, <i>assisting a suicide, or any other active euthanasia</i>. (Emphasis added). [49]</blockquote>
This prohibition is defined away in the next sentence:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Any action taken according to this section does not constitute causing or assisting another person to commit suicide. (Emphasis added).[50]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>I. If Minnesota Follows Washington State, There Will Be an Official Legal Cover Up</b></blockquote>
The bills state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Death certificate</i>. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, the attending physician may sign the qualified patient's death certificate. The qualified patient's underlying terminal illness shall be listed as the cause of death. (Emphasis added).[51]</blockquote>
As noted above, the bills also define euthanasia as assisting a suicide and state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Any action taken according to this section does not constitute causing or assisting another person to commit suicide. (Emphasis added).[52]</blockquote>
In Washington State, similar language is interpreted by the Washington State Department of Health (“Department”) to require the death certificate to list a natural death without even a hint that the actual cause of death was assisted suicide or euthanasia. The only relevant inquiry is whether Washington’s law was “used.”<br />
<br />
The Department’s “Death Certificate Instructions for Medical Examiners, Coroners and Prosecuting Attorneys,” state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Washington’s [law] states that “...<i>the patient’s death certificate ... shall list the underlying terminal disease as the cause of death</i>.” [Washington’s law] also states that, “<i>Actions taken in accordance with this chapter</i> do not, for any purpose, <i>constitute suicide, assisted suicide</i>, mercy killing, or homicide <i>under the law</i>.”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>If you know the decedent used [Washington’s law], you must comply with the strict requirements of the law when completing the death record</i>:</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The underlying terminal disease must be listed as the cause of death.<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The manner of death must be marked as “Natural.”<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>The cause of death section may not contain any language that indicates that [the law] was used, such a</i>s:</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a. <i>Suicide</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>b. <i>Assisted suicide</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>c. <i>Physician-assisted suicide</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>d. <i>Death with Dignity</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>e. I-1000 [Washington’s law was passed by I-1000]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>f. Mercy killing</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>g. Euthanasia</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>h. Secobarbital or Seconal</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>i. Pentobarbital or Nembutal (Emphasis added; spacing changed).[53]</blockquote>
If Minnesota enacts the proposed bills and follows Washington State, death certificates will not even hint that the actual cause of death was assisted suicide or euthanasia. This will happen simply because the measure was “used” (not complied with). There will be an official legal cover up.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><br /></span><b>VIII. OREGON IS NOT A VALID CASE STUDY</b><br />
<br />
Oregon is not a valid case study due to a near complete lack of transparency regarding its law..[54] Even law enforcement does not have access to the information collected.[55] Source documentation is destroyed.[56] The bottom line, Oregon’s official data cannot be verified.<br />
<br />
<b>IX. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>A.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Swiss Study: Physician-Assisted Suicide Can Be Traumatic for Family Members</b></blockquote>
In 2012, a European research study addressed trauma suffered by persons who witnessed legal physician-assisted suicide in Switzerland.[57] The study found that one out of five family members or friends present at an assisted suicide was traumatized. These people,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
experienced full or sub-threshold PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) related to the loss of a close person through assisted suicide.[58]<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>B.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>My Clients Suffered Trauma in Oregon and Washington State</b></blockquote>
In Washington State and Oregon, I have had two cases where my clients suffered trauma due to legal assisted suicide. In the first case, one side of the family wanted the father to take the lethal dose, while the other side did not. The father spent the last months of his life caught in the middle and torn over whether or not he should kill himself. My client, his adult daughter, was severely traumatized. The father did not take the lethal dose and died a natural death.<br />
<br />
In the other case, it’s not clear that administration of the lethal dose was voluntary. A man who was present told my client that my client's father had refused to take the lethal dose when it was delivered, stating, "You're not killing me. I'm going to bed," but he (the father) took it the next night when he was intoxicated on alcohol. The man who told this to my client subsequently changed his story.<br />
<br />
My client, although he was not present, was traumatized over the incident, and by the sudden loss of his father.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>C. Compassion & Choices Is the Former Hemlock Society</b></blockquote>
Passage of the proposed bills is being spearheaded by the suicide advocacy group, Compassion & Choices.<br />
<br />
Compassion & Choices was formed in 2004 as the result of a merger/takeover of two other organizations.[59] One of these organizations was the former Hemlock Society, originally formed by Derek Humphry.[60]<br />
<br />
In 2011, Humphry was the keynote speaker at Compassion & Choices’ annual meeting here in Washington State.[61] He was also in the news as a promoter of mail-order suicide kits.[62] This was after a depressed 29 year old man used one of the kits to kill himself.[63] Compassion & Choices’ newsletter, promoting Humphry’s presentation, references him as “the father of the modern movement for choice.”[6] Compassion & Choices’ mission is to promote suicide.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>D. In Oregon, Other Suicides Have Increased with Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide; the Financial Cost Is “Enormous”</b></blockquote>
Government reports from Oregon show a positive statistical correlation between the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and an increase in other (conventional) suicides. This statistical correlation is consistent with a suicide contagion in which legalizing physician-assisted suicide encouraged other suicides. Consider the following:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
• Oregon's assisted suicide act went into effect “in late 1997.”[65]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
• <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>By 2000, Oregon's conventional suicide rate<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>was "increasing significantly."[66]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
• <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>By 2007, Oregon's conventional suicide rate was 35% above the national average.[67]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
• <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>By 2010, Oregon's conventional suicide rate was 41% above the national average.[68]</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
• By 2012, Oregon's conventional suicide rate was 42% above the national average.[69]</blockquote>
There is a significant financial cost associated with these other suicides. One reason is that people who attempt suicide (and fail) can injure themselves or become disabled by the attempt. A government report from Oregon states:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[T]he estimate of total lifetime cost of suicide in Oregon was over 680 million dollars[70].<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>E.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Felony for Undue Influence Is Illusory and Unenforceable</b></blockquote>
The bills have a felony for “undue influence,” which is not defined. The bills state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Any person who coerces or exerts undue influence on a patient to complete a request for medical aid in dying, as described in subdivisions 4 and 5 . . . is guilty of attempted murder or murder.[71]<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></blockquote>
The bills also specifically allow a patient’s heir to be one of two witnesses on the lethal dose request form, which is conduct used to prove of undue influence in the context of a will.[72]<br />
<br />
How do you prove that undue influence occurred when the legislation does not define it and the measure also specifically allows conduct used to prove it in another context? You can’t. The felony for undue influence is illusory and unenforceable.<br />
<br />
<b>VIII. CONCLUSION</b><br />
<br />
Passing the proposed bills will encourage people with years or decades to live to throw away their lives.<br />
<br />
Administration of the lethal dose is allowed to occur in private without a doctor or witness present. If the patient objected, or even struggled, who would know?<br />
<br />
The death certificate will list a terminal illness as the cause of death. This will prevent prosecution for murder, no matter what the facts. The legislation, if enacted, will create the perfect crime. I urge you to reject HF 1885 and SF 1572.<br />
<br />
Respectfully Submitted,<br />
<br />
Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
Law Offices of Margaret K. Dore, P.S.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation<br />
<a href="http://www.margaretdore.com/">www.margaretdore.com</a><br />
<a href="http://www.choiceillusion.org/">www.choiceillusion.org</a><br />
1001 4th Avenue, Suite 4400<br />
Seattle, WA 98154<br />
206 697 1217<br />
<br />
<b>Footnotes:</b><br />
<br />
[1] I am an elder law and appellate attorney licensed to practice law in Washington State since 1986. I am also a former Law Clerk to the Washington State Supreme Court. I am president of Choice is an Illusion, a nonprofit corporation opposed to assisted suicide and euthanasia. My CV is attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-1 to A-4. See also <a href="http://www.margaretdore.com/">www.margaretdore.com</a>, <a href="http://www.choiceillusion.org/">www.choiceillusion.org</a><br />
[2] HF 1885 is attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-101 through A-111. SF 1572, which has identical text, is attached hereto at A-112 through A-122.<br />
[3] The AMA Code of Medical Ethics, Opinion 5.7, “Physician-Assisted Suicide,” attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-5.<br />
[4] Id.<br />
[5] Id, Opinion 5.8, “Euthanasia,” attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-5 (lower half of the page).<br />
[6] Nina Shapiro, “Terminal Uncertainty — Washington's new 'Death with Dignity' law allows doctors to help people commit suicide — once they've determined that the patient has only six months to live. But what if they're wrong?,” <i>The Seattle Weekly</i>, 01/14/09; article attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-6, quote is attached at A-8.<br />
[7] See Bill History, South Dakota Senate Concurrent Resolution 11, “Opposing physician-assisted suicide,” attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-9.<br />
[8] Id.<br />
[9] Id.<br />
[10] <i>Morris v. Brandenburg</i>, 376 P.3d 836 (2016). (Excerpt attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-12)<br />
[11] See <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a>: AP, “Brewer signs law targeting assisted suicide,” Arizona Capitol Times, 04/30/14, attached at A-13; AP, “La. assisted-suicide ban strengthened,” The Daily Comet, 04/24/12, attached at A-14; Georgia HB 1114, attached at A-15; “Idaho Strengthens Law Against Assisted Suicide,” attached at A-16 (”The law explicitly provides that causing or aiding a suicide is a felony”); and Ohio HB 470, at <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress/">https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress</a><br />
[12] See: Met Life Mature Market Institute, Broken Trust: Elders, Family and Finances,” March 2009, available at <a href="https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/mmi-study-broken-trust-elders-family-finances.pdf">https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/mmi-study-broken-trust-elders-family-finances.pdf</a> and Dan Browning, “Minnesota elder abuse reports increasing,” Star Tribune, June 10, 2016, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-10 & A-11.<br />
[13] Id.<br />
[14] Yanan Wang, “This 80-year-old ‘Black Widow,’ who lured lonesome old men to horrible fates, is out of prison again,” <i>The Washington Post</i>, March 21, 2016. (Excerpt attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-17 to A-19). See also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/21/this-80-year-old-black-widow-who-lured-lonesome-old-men-to-horrible-fates-is-out-of-prison-again">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/21/this-80-year-old-black-widow-who-lured-lonesome-old-men-to-horrible-fates-is-out-of-prison-again</a>/<br />
[15] HF 1885 & SF 1572, Subd. 2(u), line 3.19 and Subd. 3(a)(3), lines 3.22 to 3.26, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-103 & A-114.<br />
[16] Id., Subd. 2(u), line 3.19, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-103 & A-114.<br />
[17] Or. Rev. Stat. 127.800 s.1.01(12), attached hereto in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-23.<br />
[18] These conditions are listed in Oregon government reports regarding its law. For more information, see Declaration of William Toffler, MD, in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at, A-20 through A-27.<br />
[19] Id., ¶ 7.<br />
[20] Id., ¶¶ 7 & 8.<br />
[21] Id., at A-22, ¶ 10.<br />
[22] Cf. Jessica Firger, “12 million Americans misdiagnosed each year,” CBS NEWS, 4/17/14, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-31, and Nina Shapiro, “Terminal Uncertainty — Washington's new 'Death with Dignity' law allows doctors to help people commit suicide — once they've determined that the patient has only six months to live. But what if they're wrong?,” <i>The Seattle Weekly</i>, 01/14/09. (Excerpts attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-6 to A-8).<br />
[23] Affidavit of John Norton, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-32 to A-34.<br />
[24] Id., ¶ 1.<br />
[25] Id., ¶ 4, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-33.<br />
[26] Id., ¶ 5.<br />
[27] Affidavit of Kenneth Stevens, MD, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-35 to A-41; Jeanette Hall discussed at A-35 to A-36; Hall declaration attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-42.<br />
[28] Id.<br />
[29] Declaration of Jeanette Hall, ¶4, at in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-42.<br />
[30] HF 1885 & SF 1572, Subds. 4 & 5, lines 4.8 to 6.2, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-104 to A-106, and A-115 to A-117.<br />
[31] Id.<br />
[32] Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 11.12.160(2), attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-43.<br />
[33] See e.g., HF 1885 & SF 1572, Subd. 8(3), lines 7.1 to 7.7 (requiring a consulting physician to verify that the patient is capable), attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-107 and A-118.<br />
[34] HF 1885 & SF 1572, Subd. 2(d), attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-101 & A-112.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
[35] Id.<br />
[36] HF 1885 & SF 1572, Subd. 2(i), lines 2.14 to 2.22, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-102 and A-113.<br />
[37] <i>Wayne v. MasterShield, Inc</i>., 597 N.W.2d 917, 920 (1999).<br />
[38] Cf. WHO Definition of Palliative Care, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-71.<br />
[39] HF 1885 & SF 1572 in their entirety, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-101 to A-122.<br />
[40] The drugs used include Secobarbital and Pentobarbital (Nembutal). See "Secobarbital Sodium Capsules, Drugs.Com, at <a href="http://www.drugs.com/pr/seconal-sodium.html">http://www.drugs.com/pr/seconal-sodium.html</a> and <a href="http://www.drugs.com/pro/nembutal.html">http://www.drugs.com/pro/nembutal.html</a> See also the Oregon government report excerpt, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-25 (listing these drugs at the top of the page). Phenobarbital, which is soluble in alcohol, is also used. See id., and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2977013">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2977013</a><br />
[41] Alex Schadenberg, Letter to the Editor, “Elder abuse a growing problem,” <i>The Advocate</i>, Official Publication of the Idaho State Bar, October 2010, page 14, available at <a href="http://www.margaretdore.com/info/October_Letters.pdf">http://www.margaretdore.com/info/October_Letters.pdf</a><br />
[42] HF 1885 & SF 1572, Subd. 17, lines 10.17 to 10.19, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-110 & A-121.<br />
[43] Declaration of Kenneth Stevens, MD, January 16, 2016, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-28 to A-30, relevant paragraphs 9 & 10.<br />
[44] Id.<br />
[45] The bills state:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Medical aid in dying" means the medical practice of a physician prescribing medication to a mentally capable adult with a terminal illness so that the individual may decide to self-administer the medication to bring about a peaceful death. (Emphasis added).</blockquote>
Id., Subd. 2(j), line 2.23 & 2.24, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-102 & A-113.<br />
[46] See e.g., HF 1885 & SF 1572, lines 2.15 and 2.25.<br />
[47] HF 1885 & SF 1572 in their entirety, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-101 to A-122.<br />
[48] Opinion 5.7, Attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-5.<br />
[49] HF 1885 & SF 1572, Subd. 16(a), lines 10.9 to 10.11; in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-110 and A-121.<br />
[50] Id., Subd. 16(b), lines 10.12 to 10.13; in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-110 and A-121.<br />
[51] Subd. 17, lines 10.17 to 10.19; in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-110 & A-121<br />
[52] Id., Subd. 16(b), attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-110 and A-121.<br />
[53] A copy of the Washington State Department of Health death certificate instruction is attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-44.<br />
[54] See: “Declaration of Testimony” by Oregon attorney Isaac Jackson, dated September 18, 2012, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-46 to A-51 (regarding the run-around he got when he attempted to learn whether his client’s father had died under Oregon’s law - the Oregon Health Authority would neither confirm nor deny whether the client’s father had died under the law); E-mail from Alicia Parkman, Oregon Mortality Research Analyst, to Margaret Dore, dated January 4, 2012, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-52 to A-53 (law enforcement cannot get access to information); Excerpt from Oregon’s website in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-54 (patient identities “not recorded in any manner”); E-mail from Parkman to Dore, June 27, 2011, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-55 to A-56 (“all source documentation” destroyed after one year . . ., the identity of individual patients is not recorded in any manner”); and the "Confidentiality of Death Certificates" policy issued by the Oregon Department of Human Resources Health Division, December 12, 1997, (clarifying that employees failing to comply with confidentiality rules “will immediately be terminated”), as published in the Issues in Law & Medicine, Volume 14, Number 3, 1998.<br />
[55] Id.<br />
[56] Id.<br />
[57] “Death by request in Switzerland: Posttraumatic stress disorder and complicated grief after witnessing assisted suicide,” B. Wagner, J. Muller, A. Maercker; European Psychiatry 27 (2012) 542-546, available at <a href="http://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/family-members-traumatized-eur-psych-2012.pdf">http://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/family-members-traumatized-eur-psych-2012.pdf</a> (Cover page attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-57)<br />
[58] Id.<br />
[59] Ian Dowbiggin, A Concise History of Euthanasia 146 (2007)(“In 2003, [the] Hemlock [Society] changed its name to End-of-Life Choices, which merged with Compassion in Dying in 2004, to form Compassion & Choices.”). Accord. Compassion & Choices Newsletter attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-58 (“Years later, the Hemlock Society would become End of Life Choices and then merge with Compassion in Dying to become Compassion & Choices”).<br />
[60] Id.<br />
[61] Compassion & Choices Newsletter, regarding Humphry’s October 22, 2011 speaking date. (Attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-58.)<br />
[62] Compassion & Choices Newsletter, in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-58.<br />
[63] Id.<br />
[64] Compassion & Choices Newsletter, in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a>, at A-58.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
[65] Oregon’s assisted suicide report for 2014, first line, at <a href="http://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year17.pd">http://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Documents/year17.pd</a>f<br />
[66] See Oregon Health Authority News Release, 09/09/10. ("After decreasing in the 1990s, suicide rates have been increasing significantly since 2000"). (Attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-60)<br />
[67] Report excerpt, in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-62.<br />
[68] Oregon Health Authority Report, attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-64<br />
[69] Attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-63<br />
[70] See report at A-<br />
[71] Attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-111<br />
[72] Again, see Washington State’s probate statute attached in the <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2017/04/dore-mn-appendix-04-26-17.pdf" target="_blank">appendix</a> at A-43.Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13314132820263802243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-31109825279722395902016-03-16T22:56:00.000-07:002020-06-08T22:06:29.954-07:00Senator Withdraws Euthanasia Bill<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-7354760643949091453" style="background-color: white; position: relative; width: 470px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Today, Senator Chris Eaton withdrew Bill SF 1880, which had sought to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in Minnesota. This was after it became clear that she did not have the votes to </span></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">pass the bill out of committee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 1.4;">Margaret Dore</span></span><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-56697715222140260582016-03-16T22:51:00.000-07:002020-06-09T01:07:15.399-07:00Dore Memo Opposing SF 1880 (Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia)<h2 class="date-header" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px 0px 1em; min-height: 0px; position: relative; text-transform: uppercase;">
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">SF 1880 seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined. The bill calls these practices, “aid in dying.” The bill does not, however, require that a patient be dying. Indeed, “eligible” patients may have years or even decades to live.</span></div>
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The bill also legalizes undue influence as that term is traditionally defined. The bill is otherwise stacked against the individual and a recipe for elder abuse. I urge you to vote “No” on SF 1880. Don’t be fooled.<br />
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To view the full memo, <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/dore-mn-memo-sf-1880-03-14-16.pdf" style="color: #3d85c6; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">click here</a>. To view the attachments, <a href="https://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/dore-mn-memo-attachments-sf-1880-03-14-16.pdf" style="color: #3d85c6; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">click here</a>.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-68875590794797097122015-08-24T17:44:00.000-07:002020-06-09T01:08:28.743-07:00Press Release: Final Exit Network, Inc. Sentenced in Assisting with Suicide.<div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">8/24/15 </span></span></span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Dakota County
Attorney James Backstrom announced that Final Exit Network, Inc. (FEN) was
sentenced today by Judge Christian Wilton to a stay of execution of 21 months in
prison (while a corporate entity cannot be sent to prison, under Minnesota law
this sanction establishes that the offense is a felony) and 15 years of
probation, and ordered to pay a fine of $30,000 and approximately $3,000 in
restitution in connection with assisting Doreen Dunn in committing suicide on
May 30, 2007, at her home in Apple Valley. FEN will remain on probation until
the fine and restitution is paid. On May 14, 2015, a Dakota County Jury found
Final Exit Network, Inc. guilty of Assisting Another to Commit Suicide and
Interference with a Dead Body or Death Scene.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Additional
facts pertaining to this case can be found online at: <a href="https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/LawJustice/CriminalComplaint/Pages/default.aspx" style="color: #274c7d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Criminal
Complaint Search</a>. To view prior news releases, go to: <a href="https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/LawJustice/AttorneyNewsReleases/Pages/default.aspx" style="color: #274c7d; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Attorney
News Releases</a>.<br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Backstrom
commented: “What Final Exit Network does in aiding vulnerable and depressed
persons, like Doreen Dunn, in taking their own lives and then covering up the
truth about what has occurred from the victim’s family and investigating
agencies is both legally wrong and morally reprehensible. We are pleased to
have held this organization accountable in this case.” Backstrom extended his
sympathy to the family and friends of Doreen Dunn for their great loss. <br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Two
individual defendants charged in connection with Doreen Dunn’s death still have
charges pending: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />1) Dr.
Lawrence Egbert, age 87 of Baltimore, Maryland, is charged with Assisting
Another to Commit Suicide (a felony) and Interference with a Dead Body or Death
Scene (a gross misdemeanor). His next court appearance is on December 7, 2015,
in Hastings; and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />2) Roberta
Massey, age 70 of Bear, Delaware, is charged with Assisting Another to Commit
Suicide (a felony). Ms. Massey’s case is on hold due to her own serious medical
conditions.<br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Backstrom
praised Assistant County Attorney Elizabeth Swank and Chief Deputy Phil
Prokopowicz who prosecuted the case. Backstrom thanked the Apple Valley Police
Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation who aided in the
investigation of this case. <br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />If
you have questions, contact James Backstrom at <span class="baec5a81-e4d6-4674-97f3-e9220f0136c1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; white-space: nowrap;">651-438-4440</span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-25021349921980187622015-08-24T15:20:00.000-07:002015-08-24T15:20:03.181-07:00Final Exit Network Receives Maximum Sentence for Assisting Suicide<a href="http://www.startribune.com/final-exit-network-fined-30-000-for-assisting-apple-valley-woman-s-suicide/322700141/">http://www.startribune.com/final-exit-network-fined-30-000-for-assisting-apple-valley-woman-s-suicide/322700141/</a><br />
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A Dakota County judge on Monday ordered Final Exit Network, a national right-to-die group, to pay a $30,000 fine and nearly $3,000 in funeral costs for assisting an Apple Valley woman’s 2007 suicide.</div>
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The sentence was the maximum Judge Christian S. Wilton could impose on the corporation for assisting a suicide.</div>
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A jury found the Final Exit Network guilty in May of criminal charges of assisting a suicide and interfering with a death scene. It was the first time the national group had been convicted of a felony for assisting a suicide.</div>
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During the trial, prosecutors argued that the group gave Doreen Dunn, of Apple Valley, a “blueprint” for ending her life and made efforts to conceal her suicide from family and authorities by removing the equipment she used.</div>
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After the verdict, Robert Rivas, an attorney for Final Exit Network, said there was no evidence of assistance, only evidence of advising and encouraging a suicide.</div>
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The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled last year that the state’s law forbidding “advising or encouraging” suicide was unconstitutional, but maintained it is illegal to assist physically or by use of speech.</div>
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Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom addresses the media after the sentencing of Final Exit Network in the case of the assisted suicide death of Doreen Dunn at the Dakota County Law Enforcement Center in Hastings August 22, 2015.</div>
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Dunn, 57, killed herself by helium asphyxiation in 2007. In making her “exit request” to Final Exit Network, she wrote that she was “living with unbearable, excruciating” pain for 10 years after a medical procedure.</div>
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Criminal cases against Final Exit Network coordinator Roberta Massey, of Bear, Del., and the group’s medical director, Lawrence Egbert, 87, of Baltimore, are still pending.</div>
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Another defendant, Jerry Dincin, died and charges against Thomas Goodwin were dismissed in 2013.</div>
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Star Tribune staff writer Stephen Montemayor contributed to this report.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-51571144111208542222014-09-09T14:58:00.000-07:002020-06-09T01:07:55.429-07:00Melchert-Dinkel Convicted<a eudora="autourl" href="http://www.startribune.com/local/274484921.html">http://www.startribune.com/local/274484921.</a><a eudora="autourl" href="http://www.startribune.com/local/274484921.html">html<br />
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<b>Minnesota judge convicts ex-nurse of assisting suicide of English man he encouraged online</b></h2>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Article by: STEVE KARNOWSKI , Associated Press
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Updated: September 9, 2014 - 4:25 PM <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/274484921.html#"> </a>
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MINNEAPOLIS - An ex-nurse who admitted going online and encouraging people to kill themselves was convicted Tuesday of assisting the suicide of an English man and attempting to assist in the suicide of a Canadian woman, following a legal <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/274484921.html#">battle</a><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/274484921.html#"><img alt="[]" src="https://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" /></a> that has spanned more than four years and led to the reversal of part of a Minnesota law that outlaws the practice.</span><br />
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Rice County District Judge Thomas Neuville ruled that the state proved that William Melchert-Dinkel, 52, of Faribault, assisted in the suicide of Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England. He said the state failed to prove Melchert-Dinkel 's assistance was a direct cause of the suicide of Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, Ontario, but found him guilty on a lesser charge of attempting to help her take her life.<br /><br />
Melechert-Dinkel's attorney, Terry Watkins, did not immediately return messages seeking reaction to the verdict. But the prosecutor, Rice County Attorney Paul Beaumaster, said the judge meticulously followed a Minnesota Supreme Court decision from last March that narrowed the state's assisted suicide law.<br /><br />
"This has been a rather long and drawn out process, which has been difficult for the families," Beaumaster said. "... I really hope this helps the families find some closure."<br /><br />
The mothers of Drybrough and Kajouji did not immediately return messages seeking comment.<br /><br />
Neuville scheduled a sentencing hearing for Oct. 15. The same judge had also convicted Melchert-Dinkel in 2011 of encouraging the two suicides but put his 360-day jail sentence on hold pending appeals.<br /><br />
"The Defendant did not physically assist either Drybrough or Kajouji in taking their own life," the judge wrote in a ruling dated Monday but not released until Tuesday. "However, there is significant evidence that the Defendant assisted Drybrough, and attempted to assist Kajouji, commit suicide by providing them with specific instructions and methodology for completing the suicide."<br /><br />
Kajouji jumped into a frozen river in 2008, and Drybrough hanged himself in 2005.<br /><br />
In his ruling, Neuville said Melchert-Dinkel provided both Drybrough and Kajouji with detailed information about how to hang themselves, and that Drybrough followed his instructions. However, he noted that while the defendant gave Kajouji detailed and specific instructions about hanging, she did not follow them and chose another method. So the judge said Melchert-Dinkel was guilty only of attempting to assist her suicide.<br /><br />
The Minnesota Supreme Court reversed Melchert-Dinkel 's original conviction in March, saying part of the state law that made it illegal to "advise" or "encourage" suicides was an unconstitutionally broad restriction on <a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/274484921.html#">free</a><a href="http://www.startribune.com/local/274484921.html#"><img alt="[]" height="10" src="https://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png" width="10" /></a> speech. However, the justices upheld a part of the law that makes it a crime to "assist" in someone's suicide. The ruling said speech alone can be used to assist or enable a suicide if it is narrowly targeted to one person and provides that person with what is needed to carry out the act.<br /><br />
The Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings because the judge did not rule at the time on whether Melchert-Dinkel actually assisted in the two suicides.<br /><br />
Evidence in the case showed Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide and sought out depressed people online. He posed as a suicidal female nurse, feigning compassion and offering step-by-step instructions on how they could kill themselves. He acknowledged participating in online chats about suicide with up to 20 people and entering into fake suicide pacts with about 10, five of whom he believed killed themselves.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-47091694774961026632014-08-08T16:24:00.000-07:002020-06-08T23:26:40.937-07:00Minnesota prosecutors try to prove man's online chats assisted in suicides of depressed people<div class="leftColCotainer">
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">http://www.startribune.com/local/270494691.htm</span></span></div>
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By Associated Press, Updated: August 8, 2014 - 2:20 PM<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nadia Kajouji,</td></tr>
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FARIBAULT, Minn. — Prosecutors in Minnesota argued Friday that a former nurse should be convicted of assisting suicide for sending emails and other online communications in which he urged two people to kill themselves and gave them information on how to do it.<br />
<br />
William Melchert-Dinkel, 52, of Faribault, was back in court more than three years after he was convicted of encouraging suicides. The Minnesota Supreme Court earlier this year reversed those convictions, saying the state's law against encouraging or advising suicides was too broad.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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The high court however upheld part of the law that makes it a crime to assist someone's suicide, and attorneys for both sides returned to Rice County District Court to argue over whether Melchert-Dinkel's conduct qualified.<br />
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Melchert-Dinkel was originally convicted in 2011 in the deaths of Nadia Kajouji, 18, of Brampton, Ontario, and Mark Drybrough, 32, of Coventry, England. Kajouji jumped into an icy river in 2008 and Drybrough hanged himself in 2005.<br />
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Evidence at that trial showed Melchert-Dinkel was obsessed with suicide and sought out depressed people online, posing as a suicidal female nurse, faking compassion and offering detailed instructions on how they could kill themselves. Police said he told them he did it for "the thrill of the chase."<br />
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In an hour long hearing Friday, Assistant Rice County Attorney Terence Swihart said the state Supreme Court had defined "assist" as providing a person with what they need to commit suicide. Melchert-Dinkel met that definition by providing information, he argued, according to the Faribault Daily News (http://bit.ly/1sFCW7x ).<br />
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"He turned Kajouji from someone who was terrified to die into someone who killed herself. He provided Nadia Kajouji with what she needed to commit suicide. ... He dissuaded Drybrough from using other methods, such as overdosing, which was his preferred method, because it's unpredictable, something he knew as a nurse."<br />
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Defense attorney Terry Watkins said that while Melchert-Dinkel encouraged the suicides, he didn't have a knowing role in the commission of the acts and there is no evidence that his advice led to the suicides.<br />
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"There was no nexus between what (Kajouji) did and what (Melchert-Dinkel) said," said Watkins. "Although on its face Drybrough looks like a case involving assisting, it's not. He had decided on hanging as a second method long before he met Mr. Melchert-Dinkel."<br />
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Evidence presented earlier in the case included emails in which Melchert-Dinkel gave Drybrough details on how to hang himself, stating "just a sturdy knot is very much all one needs." Internet chats with Kajouji suggest he posed as a compassionate, suicidal woman who promised she would die shortly after Kajouji. In one conversation, he allegedly told her hanging would be better than jumping, and: "im just tryin to help you do what is best for you not me."<br />
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District Judge Thomas Neuville took the case under advisement and was to issue a decision within 30 days.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-3539137790089258752012-10-22T18:54:00.000-07:002012-10-22T18:54:47.808-07:00State Supreme Court To Hear Assisted Suicide Case<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/10/19/state-supreme-court-to-hear-assisted-suicide-case/">http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/10/19/state-supreme-court-to-hear-assisted-suicide-case/</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">October 19, 2012,</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO)</strong> — The state’s highest court has agreed to hear the appeal of a former nurse whw was convicted of searching out suicidal people in online chat rooms and encouraging them to kill themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">William Melchert-Dinkel of Faribault was convicted in 2011. He argues he was merely practicing “free speech.” The Minnesota Supreme Court will review his appeal, but it hasn’t set a date.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Melchert-Dinkel was convicted in the deaths of a 32-year-old man from England and an 18-year-old student from Ontario. He faces about a year in jail unless his conviction is overturned.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-50273813510627721832012-07-21T15:44:00.000-07:002012-07-21T15:44:10.888-07:00Melchert-Dinkel Decision<br />
<div class="post hentry">
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-944699262706174890">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The syllabus from the decision
affirming Melchert-Dinkel's conviction is set forth below. To view the entire
decision, <a href="http://www.mncourts.gov/Documents/0/Public/Clerks_Office/Opinions/opa110987-071712.pdf" target="_blank">click here</a>. </span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-944699262706174890">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"1. Minnesota Statutes section 609.215,
subdivision 1, which criminalizes advising, encouraging, or assisting another to
commit suicide, is not unconstitutionally overbroad under the First
Amendment.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. The First Amendment does not bar the
state from prosecuting a person for advising, encouraging, or assisting another
to commit suicide by sending coercive messages to suicide-contemplating Internet
users instructing them how to kill themselves and coaxing them to do
so."</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-64646409209379578712012-07-17T16:04:00.000-07:002012-07-17T16:04:34.017-07:00Melchert-Dinkel Conviction Upheld!<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">Appeals Court upholds nurse's aiding suicide conviction</b><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">by Amy Forliti, Associated Press </span></span><br />
<div class="date" style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">July 17, 2012</span></div>
<div class="date" style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="date" style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[To for more information, charging document <a href="http://www.choiceillusionminnesota.org/2011/06/william-melchert-dinkel-case-on-appeal.html" style="color: #3d85c6; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">click here</a>]</span></div>
<div class="date" style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[To link to Nadia's Light, <a href="http://www.nadiaslight.ca/4901.html" target="_blank">click here</a>]</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday affirmed the convictions of a former nurse who scanned online chat rooms for suicidal people then, feigning compassion, gave a British man and a young woman in Canada instructions on how to kill themselves. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">William Melchert-Dinkel, 49, of Faribault, acknowledged that what he did was morally wrong but argued he had merely exercised his right to free speech and that the Minnesota law used to convict him in 2011 of aiding suicide was unconstitutional. </span><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">The appeals court disagreed, saying the First Amendment does not bar the state from prosecuting someone for "instructing (suicidal people on) how to kill themselves and coaxing them to do so." </span><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">Melchert-Dinkel's attorney, Terry Watkins, was not immediately available for comment. </span><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">Court documents show Melchert-Dinkel searched online for depressed people then, posing as a female nurse, offered step-by-step instructions on how they could kill themselves. </span><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">Melchert-Dinkel was convicted last year of two counts of aiding suicide in the deaths of 32-year-old Mark Drybrough, of Coventry, England, who hanged himself in 2005; and 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji, of Brampton, Ontario, who jumped into a frozen river in 2008. </span><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">He was sentenced to more than six years in prison but the terms of his parole meant he would only be imprisoned for about a year. His sentence was postponed pending his appeal, but at the time of sentencing, he was told that if his convictions were upheld, he'd have seven days to report to jail. </span><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">In arguing to overturn the conviction, Watkins said his client didn't talk anyone into suicide but instead offered emotional support to two people who had already decided to take their lives. </span><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">Assistant Rice County Attorney Benjamin Bejar had argued that Melchert-Dinkel wasn't advocating suicide in general, but had a targeted plan to lure people to kill themselves. Prosecutors have said he convinced his victims to do something they might not have done without him. </span><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">Bejar said Tuesday that prosecutors were pleased with the decision. </span><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">In a statement read at his sentencing last year, Melchert-Dinkel said he was sorry for his role in the suicides and that he realized he had rejected a unique opportunity to talk his victims out of killing themselves. </span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;"></span><br style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="color: #303030; line-height: 18px;">Melchert-Dinkel's nursing license was revoked in 2009</span></span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6204699286183139818.post-70308903210352590172011-06-23T18:58:00.000-07:002011-08-06T14:02:44.110-07:00Melchert-Dinkel Case on Appeal<div align="right"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By Margaret Dore, June 23, 2011</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">William Melchert-Dinkel, a middle-aged man, posed as a young woman and trolled Internet chat rooms looking for suicidal people. His goal was to induce victims to hang themselves in front of his webcam. <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He told police that "he most likely encouraged dozens of persons to commit suicide and characterized it as the thrill of the chase."[1]</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">On March 15, 2011, the Rice County District Court convicted Melchert-Dinkel of intentionally encouraging and advising Nadia Kajouji and Mark Drybrough to commit suicide.[2] The case is now on appeal.[3]</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">* * *</span></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><em>Canada's "The Fifth Estate" ran two episodes on Nadia's death: "</em></span><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2009-2010/death_online/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana;"><em>Death Online</em></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><em>" and "</em></span><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2010-2011/justicefornadia/"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana;"><em>Justice for Nadia</em></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><em>." <span style="font-family: Verdana;">Nadia's mother, Deborah Chevalier, has since launched a <span style="color: black;">suicide prevention site, <a href="http://www.nadiaslight.ca/4901.html"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Nadia's Light</span></a></span>. The message is: "There is hope. There is help."</span></em></span><br />
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<div align="center"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;">* * *</span></strong></div><span style="font-family: Verdana;">[1] <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/pdf/melchert-dinkel-complaint.pdf"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Complaint</span></a>, page 4, lines 1-2. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">[2] </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.margaretdore.com/pdf/melchert-dinkel_ff_etc_001.pdf"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, Order for Judgment and Memorandum</span></a>, March 15, 2011, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">pp. 41-42.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">[3] <em>See </em><a href="http://www.margaretdore.com/pdf/melchert-dinkel_NOA_001.pdf"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Notice of Appeal</span></a>, filed May 31, 2011.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com