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Comments

• Posted by Duane Lueders on Saturday, August 07 at 05:11 p.m.

  I'm a recent DWD supporter. Being from Connecticut, and reading your summary on where a DWD law stands in Connecticut,I thought you could use an update as your summary is out of date. The Blick case was ruled as nonjusticiable by a superior court judge and the Blick camp, fortunately, has decided NOT to appeal. In 2009 our Judiciary Committee decided 37-0 to adopt a DWD law but, for reasons unknown to me, it never got any further. Now that the Blick case is no longer being pursued, it falls back to the legislature to, hopefully, take the matter up next session.

My Thoughts

Montana Death with Dignity

It appears an ugly battle over Death with Dignity legislation may be brewing in Montana. In a complicated 2009 ruling, the Montana Supreme Court determined physician hastened death is not prohibited under current Montana law. In the text of the ruling, the Court did not lay down procedures for implementing Death with Dignity which leaves potential dangers for physicians, patients, and family members that require some sort of statutory or regulatory solution.

Most likely as a result of the murky procedural status, there has been virtually no change in medical practice in the state. Few or no physicians, pharmacists, and/or terminally ill individuals have outwardly discussed their experience under the ruling. Of course, they are not required to do so. Unlike in Oregon and Washington, there is neither state monitoring nor data collection in Montana.

As the debate over physician-assisted death heats up worldwide, I have been pleased to hear the 12 years of data from Oregon's Death with Dignity Act mentioned when people make the case for clear and concise Death with Dignity laws with appropriate safeguards. In the UK recently, Oregon's voter-approved law was cited multiple times during The Royal Society of Medicine's conference on hastened death. And for good reason.

As Lord Joffe, a member of The Royal Society of Medicine, argued, "[Oregon’s law] has only led to about 0.2%, which is 60 deaths out of 30,000 deaths in Oregon each year. There's been no slippery slope or any proposal to extend the legislation to include voluntary euthanasia. Palliative care has not been undermined but has flourished. And there's no credible evidence of abuse of any vulnerable members of society. This is after 12 years." By comparison, accidents account for 1,200 per 30,000 deaths in Oregon each year.