Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Thank You Representative Oshiro!

Representative Marcus Oshiro (in green)
This is a belated thank you to Representative Marcus Oshiro, one of the many people instrumental to the defeat of SB 1129, which had sought to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in Hawaii.

Representative Oshiro took the lead to make stopping the bill one of his main goals for the legislative session. From my viewpoint, he was a major reason we won in what was also a great team effort. Choice is an Illusion got him a plaque in appreciation.

Friday, July 14, 2017

Assisted Suicide Dealt Another Blow In Hawaii

Attorney General
Douglass S. Chin
http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2017/07/15/medical-aid-in-dying-dealt-another-blow-in-hawaii/

ARTICLE SUMMARY- They failed at the legislature this year, and now a court dismissed a lawsuit, but advocates have not given up.

(BIVN) – An Oahu circuit judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit asking the court to prevent existing Hawaii criminal laws from being applied to medical aid in dying [assisted suicide] practices.

In its decision, the court relied upon state legal precedent that prohibited it from issuing such relief, the state attorney general said in a media release. The attorney general opposed the suit, filing the successful motion to dismiss.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Reject SB 1129 S.D. 2 Memorandum


By Margaret Dore, Esq.

To view a print version, click here and here.

To view the entire memo in html, click here.

I. INTRODUCTION

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 the proposed act in SB 1129 SD 2.

The proposed act seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined. The act calls these practices “aid in dying.” This is misleading. “Eligible” persons may have years or decades to live. The act is also sold as a promotion of patient choice and control, which is not true. The act is stacked against the patient and a recipe for elder abuse. I urge you to vote “No” on SB 1129 SD2.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

We Won! (7-0)

Della Au Belatti,
Chair House Health
Committee 
Today, in a drastic turnaround from a lopsided vote in the Hawaii Senate to pass a bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia in Hawaii, the Hawaii House Health Committee unanimously (7-0) recommended that the bill be delayed.

The Committee members agreed that SB 1129 SD 2 has too many problems to go forward at this time. What this means is that the bill is most probably dead for the year.

A great victory due to a team effort.

Special thanks to the Committee members who made it a point to read the bill. Special thanks to the people of Hawaii showing up to outnumber the bill's proponents at least 4 to 1. And special thanks to the people who organized them, you know who you are..

To read a bullet point summary of problems with the bill and why the other side's choice claim is a big fat fib, please click here. To read a legal analysis submitted by Choice is an Illusion, please cliick here.

Thank you again to everyone who participated to make this happen.

You did it!

Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA
Choice is an Illusion, President

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Vote “No” on SB 1129 SD 2: No Assisted Suicide; No Euthanasia

For more information, click here and here.

Highlights:

• Passing the act will encourage people with years, even decades, to live, to throw away their lives.

• The proposed act is sold as completely voluntary, but doesn’t even have a provision requiring administration of the lethal dose to be voluntary.

• Administration of the lethal dose is allowed to occur in private without a doctor or witness present. If the patient objected or struggled, who would know?

Monday, March 6, 2017

Under SB 1129 SD 2, Patients Lose the Right to Informed Consent

By Margaret Dore, Esq.

Under current Hawaii law, patients making a health care decision have the right to “informed consent.”[1] This includes the right to be supplied with information concerning “recognized alternative treatments” and their “recognized benefits.” Hawaii's Informed Consent Statute, HRS § 671-3(b), states:
The following information shall be supplied to the patient . . . prior to obtaining consent to a proposed medical . . . treatment . . . .
(4) The recognized alternative treatments or procedures, . . .  and . . .
(6) The recognized benefits of the recognized alternative treatments or procedures. (Emphasis added).[1]
Under SB 1129 SD 2, patients instead have the right to an “informed decision.” Instead of having the right to be told of recognized alternative treatments and their benefits, the patient will have the right to be told of “feasible alternatives,” all of which have to do with death and dying. SB 1129 SD 2, § -2, states:

Sunday, March 5, 2017

SB 1129 SD 2 Creates the Perfect Crime

To the Hawaii State Senate:

SB 1129 SD 2 seeks to legalize physicain a traditional euphemism for assisted suicide and euthanasia.  The act applies to people with years or decades to live. The act is a recipe for elder abuse, especially in the inheritance situation for persons middle class and above.


Highlights:

Passing the act will encourage people with years or decades to live, to throw away their lives.

• Administration of the lethal dose is allowed to occur in private without a doctor or a witness present. If the patient objected or struggled, who would know?

• The death certificate is required to list a terminal disease as the cause of death.  The death will be a terminal disease (not murder) as a matter of law.  The death certif gives perpetrators The bill creates the perfect crime.

Oregon Assisted Suicide Law Facilitated Fraud of Elderly Man

The Committee on Judiciary and Labor has issued a report claiming that there has never been a documented instance of coercion or abuse under Oregon's assisted suicide law, which is not true. There study claming that Oregon's law is There is also  recommending passage of an assisted suicide/euthanasia act (SB 1129 S.D. 2), which based on a misunderstanding of a similar law in Oregon.

1.  

 On March 26, 2013, Philip Tummarello, a retired police Sergeant Inspector, testified before the Montana Senate Judiciary Committee on on behalf of HB 505.  His testimony included the Thomas Middleton case in which physician-assisted suicide had facilitated the defrauding of an elderly man.  An article from KTVZ.com states: 
"State and court documents show Middleton, who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, moved into Sawyer's home in July 2008, months after naming her trustee of his estate, The Bulletin reported Saturday.  Middleton deeded his home to the trust and directed her to make it a rental until the real estate market improved.
Instead, Sawyer signed documents that month to list the property for sale, two days after Middleton died by physician-assisted suicide.  The property sold in October of that year for more than $200,000, the documents show, and it was deposited into an account for one of Sawyer's businesses, Starboard LLC, and $90,000 of that was transferred to two other Sawyer companies, Genesis Futures and Tami Sawyer PC."  (Emphasis added).

recommending passage of SB 1129 S.D. 2, based in large part on the

Thursday, March 2, 2017

The Hawaii Legislature is considering legalizing assisted suicide (Senate Bill 1129 SD1). I am a doctor in Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal.

In 2000, I had a cancer patient named Jeanette Hall who was adamant that she was going to use Oregon’s law. Without treatment, she had a prognosis of six months to a year to live, rendering her “eligible.” I convinced her to be treated instead. Today, 16 years later, she is thrilled to be alive.

In Oregon, the Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid) steers patients to suicide in lieu of desired treatments for cure or to extend life. Private insurers have this same ability. Do you want this to be your choice?

Legal assisted suicide encourages people with years to live to throw away their lives and allows providers to steer patients to suicide in lieu of treatment.

Tell your legislators to vote “No” on SB 1129 SD1.

Kenneth Stevens, M.D.
Sherwood, Ore.

Legal Assisted Suicide Encourages People With Years to Live to Throw Away Their Lives

Jeanette Hall

The Hawaii Legislature is considering legalizing assisted suicide (Senate Bill 1129 SD1). I am a doctor in Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal.

In 2000, I had a cancer patient named Jeanette Hall who was adamant that she was going to use Oregon’s law. Without treatment, she had a prognosis of six months to a year to live, rendering her “eligible.” I convinced her to be treated instead. Today, 16 years later, she is thrilled to be alive.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia Act Must Be Rejected

HONOLULU, Feb. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attorney Margaret Dore, president of Choice is an Illusion, which is fighting assisted suicide and euthanasia legalization efforts throughout the United States, made the following statement in connection with an assisted suicide/euthanasia bill set for hearing tomorrow in the Hawaii State Senate Committee on Judiciary and Labor. The bill is SB 1129 S.D. 1.
“The bill seeks to pass a proposed act legalizing assisted suicide and allowing euthanasia,” said Dore. “If enacted, the act will apply to people with years or decades to live. The act is a recipe for elder abuse, especially for people with money, meaning the middle class and above in the inheritance situation.”

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Make a page Dore Memo Opposing SB 1129 SD1

• Prevent non-voluntary assisted       suicide;
• Prevent non-voluntary euthanasia;
• Prevent people with years to live,   from throwing away their lives;
• Stop legal elder abuse;
• Preserve government                   transparency and integrity;        
• Don’t let Hawaii become corrupt     like Oregon.

To view a pdf version of this document, click here for the memo and click here for the appendix

Dore Testimony Excerpt Opposing SB 1129 SD 1

Margaret Dore, Esq.
 "[W]ill people be killed by
their heirs and other
perpetrators in a black hole
of  wishful thinking?"
To Chairman Keith-Agaran and members of the Committee:

[The proposed act in SB 1129 SD 1 seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide and allow euthanasia. My memo and documentation opposing the act can be viewed here and here].

The act will encourage people with years or decades to live to throw away their lives.  (See memo, pp 3-6). The act is a recipe for elder abuse, especially for those in the middle class and above in the inheritance situation. (Id., pp. 8-9). The act creates the perfect crime in which the death is allowed to occur in private, without oversight, and the death certificate gives perpetrators a "stay out of jail free card."  (Id., pp. 10-13).

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

SB 1129 SD 1 Creates the Perfect Crime

Senate Chamber
The proposed act (SB 1129 SD 1) legalizes physician-assisted suicide and allows euthanasia as long as actions are taken in “accordance” with the act.

The proposed act applies to people with years or decades to live. The act is a recipe for elder abuse, especially in the inheritance situation for persons middle class and above.

To view a supporting memo, click here and here

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Kathryn Judson: "Assisted Suicide? 'I was afraid to leave my husband alone again with doctors and nurses'”

Letter to the editor from Oregon resident, Kathryn Judson (Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the original letter). 

Hello from Oregon.

When my husband was seriously ill several years ago, I collapsed in a half-exhausted heap in a chair once I got him into the doctor's office, relieved that we were going to get badly needed help (or so I thought).

To my surprise and horror, during the exam I overheard the doctor giving my husband a sales pitch for assisted suicide. 'Think of what it will spare your wife, we need to think of her' he said, as a clincher.

Friday, February 17, 2017

"Aid in Dying" Is a Traditional and Misleading Euphemism for Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

Yesterday, the Hawaii State Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health amended SB 1129, "a bill for an act relating to health".  The bill seeks to pass an act legalizing physician-assisted suicide and allowing euthanasia.

The new amended version, SB 1129 SD1, changes the title of the proposed act to the 'Medical Aid in Dying Act.'"[1]

"Aid in Dying" is a traditional euphemism for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. See, for example, this article from 1992: Maria T. Celocruz, "'Aid-in-Dying': Should we decriminalize Physician-Assisted Suicide and Physician-Committed Euthanasia?," American Journal of Law and Medicine."

Use of the term, "aid in dying," is also misleading because the act applies to people with years or decades to live (not dying). See here

* * *
[1]  SB 1129 SD1, SECTION 2, page 2 (bottom of the page)

Proposed Act Applies to People with Years or Decades to Live

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

William Toffler, MD

The proposed act in SB 1129 SD1 applies to persons with a “terminal disease,” meaning those predicted to have less than six months to live.[1]  Such persons may actually have years or decades to live. This is true for three reasons:

A. Treatment Can Lead to Recovery

In 2000, Oregonian Jeanette Hall was given a terminal diagnosis of six months to a year to live, which was based on her not being treated for cancer.[2] Hall made a settled decision to use Oregon’s law, but her doctor convinced her to be treated instead.  In a 2016 declaration, she states:
This July, it will be 16 years since my diagnosis.  If [my doctor] had believed in assisted suicide, I would be dead.[3]

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Tell the Hawaii Legislature to Vote “No” on SB 1129

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

SB 1129 legalizes physician-assisted suicide and allows euthanasia as long as actions are taken in “accordance” with the act.

The proposed Oregon style act applies to people with years or decades to live. The act is a recipe for elder abuse.

To view a legal analysis opposing the bill, with supporting documentation, click here.  To view the analysis without the supporting documentation, click here.

Friday, February 3, 2017

False idea No. 4

Oregon has had an assisted suicide law for almost 20 years. This proves it’s OK. The truth: Actually, this probably proves that the Oregon record-keeping is meaningless. No human endeavor involving sickness and death operates for 20 years without abuse, fraud, complications, and difficulty. Oregon’s records were deliberately set up by the organization to conceal problems, and they have done so for 20 years.

Michael H. Plumer

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Don't Drink Hemlock: Compassion & Choices' Mission Is to Promote Suicide

Hemlock
The push to enact HB 201 (assisted suicide/euthanasia)  is being
spearheaded by the suicide advocacy group, Compassion
& Choices.

Compassion & Choices was formed in 2004 as the result of a merger/takeover of two other organizations.[1] One of these organizations was the former Hemlock Society, originally formed by Derek Humphry.[2]

Friday, January 27, 2017

HB 201 Allows Euthanai

The Oregon Experience is B.S.

Bull
The claim by assisted suicide proponents, that Oregon's law is safe, cannot be independently
verified: (1) Studies making the claim are invalid; (2) Oregon's data cannot be verified; and (3) Even law enforcement is denied access to information.