RSSEfforts in Hawai'i
By None, Death with Dignity Update, Feb. 17, 2006
Death with Dignity Hawai'i (DWDHI) is a coalition of local organizations including Advocates for Consumer Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, Free Thinkers Maui, the Hemlock Society Hawai'i, Humanists Hawai'i, the Kokua Council and Compassion In Dying of Hawai'i.
2005
On February 6, 2005, after more than nine hours of testimony before the House Health Committee, lawmakers voted against moving the Death with Dignity Bill (HB 1454) forward, thus eliminating Death with Dignity from the 2005 legislative session.
2004
In January 2004, QMark Research & Polling issued 'Hawai'i Issue Study: Issues Affecting Those Dying of a Terminal Disease,' showing that 75% of registered Hawai'ian voters believed the terminally ill should be able to request and receive physician help in hastening their deaths. Two-thirds of those surveyed supported the proposed Death with Dignity Bill (HB 862) as a matter of self-determination, and 64% expressed the desire that their legislators support the bill. Read the poll.
House Bill 862 represented Hawai'i's second attempt at passing a death with dignity law. However, as the election season approached, the House of Representatives rejected the measure that would have allowed terminally ill adults to get lethal doses of medication that would end their lives. According to House Judiciary Vice Chairman Blake Oshiro, D-33rd (Halawa, 'Aiea, Pearlridge), among the main proponents, House members were divided, and the Democrats believed it would be better to raise the issue again later -- but not this session. "People were a little uncomfortable about taking this up in an election year," Oshiro said. The measure also faced an uphill fight in the Senate. Gov. Linda Lingle has stated her opposition.
2002
In 2002, Death with Dignity Hawai'i worked closely with national leaders in end-of-life care reform to promote a narrow bill modeled on the Oregon law. Led by Representatives Eric Hamakawa and Blake Oshiro, the House Judiciary Committee passed the bill and moved it out of the Hawai'i House of Representatives on to the Senate. On May 2, the final day of the legislative session, the bill suffered a narrow defeat. After more than two hours of emotionally charged debate, the Senate voted 14-11 to reject the proposed death with dignity legislation. A disappointed Governor Cayetano expressed hope that awareness of the issue had been raised.
1996
In 1996, former Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano convened the "Blue Ribbon Panel on Living & Dying with Dignity." The panel made several recommendations, each of which was implemented except one -- a death with dignity law. As the Panel's report stated: "Our respect for individual's rights of self-determination brings us to the view that requests for assistance in dying should be taken seriously."
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For more than 14 years, the Death with Dignity National Center (DDNC), a 501(c)(3), non-partisan, non-profit organization, has been the leading advocate in the death with dignity movement. Leaders in our organization originally wrote and have continued advocating for the Oregon Death with Dignity Law. DDNC has met these challenges through extensive legal defense of the Oregon law, education and outreach programs, and by developing and nurturing diverse financial resources with one goal in mind: to ensure DDNC's financial vitality and its position as a leader in the death with dignity movement.
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Political Action Fund
The Death with Dignity National Center partners with the Oregon Death with Dignity Political Action Fund (the Fund) to conduct lobbying and political activities in order to achieve the enactment of Death with Dignity laws in other states. The partnership resulted in tremendous success with the resounding win in the 2008 Washington Death with Dignity campaign.
Learn more about the Fund's efforts to bring dignity to people around the nation.
About Death with Dignity
The greatest human freedom is to live, and die, according to one's own desires and beliefs. The most common desire among those with a terminal illness is to die with some measure of dignity. From advance directives to physician-assisted dying, death with dignity is a movement to provide options for the dying to control their own end-of-life care.
Death with Dignity National Center (DDNC) is the leader in this movement, successfully establishing, advancing and defending the landmark Oregon Death with Dignity Act -- a national catalyst for openly discussing and actively reforming end-of-life care for those who are terminally ill.
Learn more about the National Center and our family of organizations.
Patients & Families
The Death with Dignity National Center was formed out of a profound commitment to the idea that personal end-of-life decisions should be made solely between a patient and a physician. Based on this commitment, we are pleased to provide you with support and information as you face the difficult challenges ahead.
Research Center
We have compiled a comprehensive collection of legal briefs, journal articles, and newspaper clippings. We invite you to explore the wide array of information we have collected throughout our history.
In our Research Center you will find frequently asked questions, the history of the death with dignity movement, state monitoring statistics, and a copy of this groundbreaking statute.
