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.

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.

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

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?

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:

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