Assisted Suicide Bill Offered in Olympia

A Seattle senator's proposal, like Oregon's law, allows doctors to prescribe lethal doses of drugs.

By Kayla Webley, The Oregonian, Feb. 8, 2006

OLYMPIA -- Sen. Pat Thibaudeau knows what it's like to watch someone die in terrible pain. Her husband, Roger, suffered from congestive heart failure, kidney failure and other ailments for more than six years before he died in 2004.

Thibaudeau, D-Seattle, said the two discussed what type of care they would want at the end of their lives, but they didn't talk about doctor-assisted suicide.

That's one reason why she's raising the issue in the Washington Legislature. "I think people ought to have a choice in this matter," Thibaudeau said, though she noted that her husband probably wouldn't have taken that route.

She introduced a bill this session similar to Oregon's one-of-a-kind law, allowing physicians to prescribe lethal doses of medication to patients who request it in writing. Two doctors would have to agree independently that the patient had fewer than six months to live and was of sound mind to make the decision.

The bill failed to make much headway, but Thibaudeau said she didn't expect it would. She simply wanted to restart the discussion.

In the meantime this week, former Washington Gov. Booth Gardner, who has battled Parkinson's disease for more than 14 years, told The Associated Press that he plans to campaign on behalf of an "assisted death" ballot initiative next year, though he hasn't decided on its scope.

He apologized to those who might be offended by his plan, but said it should be his decision when and how he dies.

Gardner said he plans to have innovative "deep brain surgery" in a few weeks to implant a type of pacemaker that will help restore control of his body. He said doctors tell him he has about 8 percent of the normal control and that the surgery should give him at least five productive years of life, with half the medication.

"When I go, I want to decide," he said. "That's why I plan to work on getting 'assisted death' in this state."

Assisted suicide has remained in the background in Washington since voters narrowly defeated a ballot initiative in 1991. The measure would have allowed doctors to prescribe lethal doses as well as provide lethal injections if patients couldn't administer the drugs themselves. Thibaudeau's legislation wouldn't allow doctors to give lethal injections.

Thibaudeau and supporters in other states were waiting for the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Oregon's assisted suicide law before making their moves. The high court left Oregon's law intact, saying the Justice Department couldn't punish doctors for prescribing lethal doses of medication to dying people.

Since the law passed, 208 people have ended their lives under the statute through 2004, according to the Oregon Department of Human Services.

"Though very few people use it, a lot of people get comfort in knowing it exists," said Robb Miller, executive director of Compassion and Choices of Washington, an advocacy group that supports assisted suicide.

The time may be right for Washington voters to reconsider their earlier decision, said Stuart Elway, an independent pollster in Seattle. Though he hasn't done any surveying on the issue yet, he said the state is pretty tolerant on various social issues including abortion rights and that he could see assisted suicide "getting a pretty good hearing here."

The public debate in Washington hasn't reached much more than low-level exchanges at this point, with people on both sides agreeing the state will benefit in focusing attention on end-of-life care.

"We know that about 5 percent of seriously ill folks have pain that can't be controlled," said Peg Sandeen, executive director of the Death with Dignity National Center, based in Portland. "Dying in uncontrolled pain in this time with this technology is unacceptable."

Opponents say they worry that the legislation would place more emphasis on dying and less on care.

"We think that the answer is love and care at the end of life and not eliminating patients," said Dan Kennedy, chief executive of Human Life of Washington. "This turns (care) 180 degrees and asks doctors to be complicit in something we find morally offensive."

The Washington State Medical Association has a policy stance against physician-assisted suicide, but Jennifer Hanscom, a spokeswoman, said the group's members are divided on the issue.

In this short legislative session, Thibaudeau's bill has stalled in committee without a public hearing. She plans to reintroduce the legislation next year.

The decision most likely will go to voters again by referendum or by initiative, but Thibaudeau said she hopes to pass the bill without taking it to the people.

"I think legislators are in the business of making laws . . . that's our job to make and craft legislation that responds to the public's needs," she said.

Kayla Webley: 206-799-8952; kaylawebley@news.oregonian.com

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