Patients Rights Council Update
Update 101, Volume 36, Number 2 (2022)
Dear Update Reader
This edition of the Update is in the same format as the previous edition. This is due to a number of factors, including the “supply chain crisis,” that makes it virtually impossible to get the supplies for the previous format and to the fact that costs of such supplies when they become available may be prohibitive. I know that you, as a supporter of the PRC, want your contributions to be used carefully and so we will continue to use this format for the foreseeable future.
Also, please note that the Update is always posted on the PRC web site. The most recent edition is posted on the home page:
( https://www.patientsrightscouncil.org/site ) and past editions of the last 26 years can be found at the Update archive page: (https://www.patientsrightscouncil.org/site/update-archive).
It’s Not Only What Is in a Bill or a Law
When reading and analyzing a bill or a law, the first and, certainly very important, task is to understand what is in it. But it shouldn’t stop there. It is just as important to know what is not in the bill or the law.
This has become readily apparent in changes in the way health care is carried out – particularly the use of telemedicine as a result of the pandemic.
Until recently, in those jurisdictions that had transformed assisted suicide from a crime into a “medical treatment,” phrases such as “make two oral requests” was assumed to mean that the patient had to be in the physical presence of the physician when making that request. However, only one state permitting assisted suicide contained any such language requiring that. The state that did require it was Vermont.
But that’s no longer the case.
Vermont’s medical-aid-in-dying statute which had been in effect since 2013 was amended on August 10, 2022. Under the original law, the patient had to make two in-person requests to a prescribing physician, visit another consulting physician in person and submit a written request.
Under the amended law, patients are permitted to request the prescription using telemedicine and the 48-hour waiting period. (Vermont Digger, 4/27/22)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………Oregon’s Law Goes National
From Anywhere to Oregon
As noted in the last Update, Oregon was the first state to pass a law permitting doctors to prescribe a lethal overdose of drugs to patients who were diagnosed as having a “terminal illness.” The law went into effect in 1997 and has been considered the model for all other states where similar laws were proposed and were passed. Oregon is always said to contain “safeguards” that protect patients.
One such “safeguard” was a requirement that a patient accessing the law be an Oregon resident. But, like other so-called “safeguards,” the residency requirement eventually was called a “barrier” that needed to be removed.
A federal lawsuit (Gideonse v. Brown) was filed by Compassion & Choices (formerly known as the Hemlock Society) challenging that residency requirement. The suit alleged that the residency requirement violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. The court ruled that the Oregon law’s residency requirement was unconstitutional and, in a settlement reached on Monday, March 28, 2022, the Oregon Health Medical Board agreed to stop enforcing the residency requirement.
According to the Notice of Settlement, the state “decided it would not apply or otherwise enforce the residency requirement under the Act.” [CNN.com, 3/29/22] Compassion and Choices immediately announced that similar suits to remove residency requirements could be filed in states that currently have laws permitting assisted suicide.
What does this mean?
It means that residents in any state who have been diagnosed — or misdiagnosed — as being “terminally ill” can travel to Oregon to obtain a prescription for a lethal dose of drugs.
But it seems, now, that one would not need to travel to Oregon since one can request the drugs via telemedicine.
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Canada’s Law Permitting Both Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide Targets Children
Canada did not legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide until 2016, years after both practices were legalized in The Netherlands. Oregon – for now – has permitted only assisted suicide since 1998. Canada legalized both practices in 2016 and its requirements are the most permissive in the world.
According to Canada’s third annual report, released in July 2022, 10,064 died from what is called “Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD)” in the prior year. That’s 3.3% of all deaths in 2021. (Pg. 19) (Entire report is posted on the PRC web site.)
In Canada, the law does not require that the person be “terminally ill” to be eligible for induced death,. Beginning in 2023, the mentally ill will be eligible for euthanasia. (National Review, August 2, 2022)
And now, children’ activity books are indoctrinating school children, ages 6-12, into viewing the benefits of ending one’s life. (National Review, July 29, 2022) The book has activities for children to plan their role in another person’s euthanasia which could lead to those children to start thinking about their own euthanasia when the time comes. (American Thinker, July 11, 2022)
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Do you know what the status of assisted suicide is in your country or your state?
You will find that information at the Patients Rights Council web site:
Then go to Site Map:
And scroll down to your country or state in the listing of places and issues.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Briefing Book (Part Two)
This is Installment two of suggestions to help you discuss assisted suicide with others.
Selecting Spokespersons
Those who speak publicly, meet with editorial boards, write opinion pieces and are the public face of opposition to prescribed suicide should be carefully selected and well trained.
That means that knowledgeable and eloquent religious or right-to-life individuals should direct their efforts to training those public spokespersons. Then, when a call for comment or a request for a speaker is received by the diocesan or right-to-life office, the caller can be directed to those trained public spokespersons.
The messenger is as important as the message.
The most knowledgeable person may not be the best messenger. Selecting a messenger who connects with an audience is an important component of effective communication. When addressing professional organizations, peers are generally most effective. Community groups that have a variety of members need to be analyzed to determine the best messenger.
Polling has indicated that nurses and representatives of disability rights groups are among the most trusted individuals although members of other professions and groups can be extremely effective spokespersons as well.
People don’t care what you know unless they know that you care.
No matter who the messenger may be, sincere, positive personal contact is paramount. Contact must make an emotional, not just an intellectual, connection. Personal persuasion is the important element in shaping opinions about assisted suicide. This is true whether the contact is between trusted friends, beloved family members or admired acquaintances, through discussions with attendees after a presentation or over coffee with a reporter, during a brief exchange with a radio or television show producer, networking at conferences, or when attending other functions.
What if those individuals do not agree on other issues?
Very few people agree on high profile issues with everything that another person believes. But those who are addressing assisted suicide do not need to agree on other issues. Sometimes the best spokespersons regarding opposition to assisted suicide are actually those who may be opponents on other issues.
It’s important to recognize that opposing prescribed suicide is a matter of life and death. In such a matter, the most important thing is to focus on what is at stake. For example:
If a flood is threatening your town and people gather to put sandbags up to prevent the waters from reaching homes, would you stop to question them to determine what their stance is on other matters?
Or would you work together to prevent disaster?
Installment Three of the Briefing Book will appear in the next Update.
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Where is all of this headed unless we work together to protect others from euthanasia and assisted suicide?
In a recent message, Compassion and Choices (the U.S. organization formerly known as the Hemlock Society) proclaimed, “Transform the Movement: We will not rest until every American can access the full spectrum of end-of-life options.” (Emphasis added) Source: Fundraising message from Compassion and Choices, November 30, 2021.
Note that that message said every American.
That means adults, children, individuals with terminal illnesses and every other person in the country.
It also means that, unless we work together that boulder going down the mountain will crush every person in the country unless we all work together to sound the alarm and make others aware of the need to oppose the deadly plans of those who are seeking what they call just another “end-of-life option.”
But one may question if this includes children as well.
The answer is “Yes.”
Recent events in the Netherlands indicate exactly how this can happen. According to recent reports out of there, all children will be eligible for euthanasia this year.
Currently, children under 1 can be euthanized under the long-standing Groningen Protocol and the law makes it legal for anyone over 12 to request that they be put to death. But that left out those between 2 and 12. But it’s about to change.
The Dutch Minister for Health said pediatricians have requested a regulation – rather than a law – because amending the country’s euthanasia law would polarize the debate. So, in October, the Minister will inform Parliament about the details of his proposal and set a timetable for implementation. (Source: Bioedge, August 2, 2022)
…………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………Dear Reader,
Do you care?
I believe you do. And you can make a difference.
With so many “hot-button issues” facing us in these times, it’s easy to care but not to act.
Please share this information with others.
And, to keep up to date, visit the PRC web site often for the latest information.
Sincerely and hopefully,
Rita L. Marker
…………………………………….………………………………………………………………………The Patients Rights Council is a human rights organization formed to promote and defend the right of all patients to be treated with respect, dignity and compassion and to resist attitudes, programs and policies which threaten the lives of those who are medically vulnerable. To those ends, the PRC compiles well-documented and up-to-date information on a whole range of end-of-life issues, including health care advance directives, futile care policies, health care reform, and prescribed suicide.
Don’t forget to protect yourself.
If you are in an accident tomorrow and can’t make you own medical decisions for a week, a month or even for the rest of your life, who will make those decisions for you?
It is vitally important that you have named someone you know and trust, who agrees with your views and values and who can be assertive on your behalf to do so.
If you don’t yet have the PRC’s durable power of attorney for health care, called the Protective Medical Decisions Document (PMDD), please call the PRC (740-282-3810 or (800-958-5678) between 9am and 4pm (eastern time) to request it.
Protect yourself. Protect your family. Protect those you love.
It is with your help that we can continue to carry out this important work. Please consider making a gift to the PRC. Donations you make are tax-deductible.
Executive Director: Rita Marker, J.D.
Assistant Director: Jason Negri, J.D.
Consultant: Wesley J. Smith, J.D.
Patients Rights Council
P.O. Box 760
Steubenville, OH 43952 USA
www.patientsrightscouncil.org
Copyright © 2022 Patients Rights Council
