Hawaii Senate Panel to Debate and Hear Testimony on Assisted Suicide Bill Today

Because of the time difference between New York and Hawaii, the Senate hearing on assisted suicide hasn’t begun yet.  Here is the news from Friday’s Star Advertiser:

Hawaii would become the fourth state to legalize physician-assisted suicide under a proposal being brought back for debate in the Legislature for the first time in four years.

Senate Health Chairman Josh Green is reviving the issue with a hearing Monday afternoon in the state Capitol auditorium.

Senate Bill 803 would allow a terminally ill, competent adult to receive medication to end life. The bill specifically prohibits mercy killings, lethal injections and active euthanasia, and requires patients to receive informed consent.

Alternate doctors would be allowed to substitute for those who decline to participate, and the law also would provide immunity from civil and criminal liability for acts taken in good faith.

Green, an emergency room doctor in Kona, said he supports palliative and hospice care, but he believes the testimony is compelling on both sides of the argument.

“I’m very sensitive to the concerns of everyone involved in this issue — from those suffering with terminal conditions and their families, to those who provide them with medical care,” he said. “We need to find a way to support those dealing with end-of-life decisions with the greatest possible compassion and respect.”

An assisted-suicide proposal introduced in the House has not been scheduled for a hearing.

Versions of the doctor-assisted suicide proposal have been floated at the Legislature since 1999.

Green (D, Milolii-Waimea) was the last committee chairman to hear it in either chamber, doing so as the House health chairman in 2007 and 2005. The bill failed to make it out of his committee both years, most recently with members voting 6-1 to hold the measure.

Green has said that with so much turnover in the Legislature, he feels it is healthy to have fresh debate on difficult issues.

Hearings have been characterized by emotional testimony, bringing many to tears as they have recounted tales of loved ones suffering near the end of life.

The issue was last heard in the Senate in 2002, when it came to the chamber floor for a final vote on the final day of the session. Four senators changed their votes between second and third reading — three from “yes” to “no” — as the measure failed 14-11.

There are at least three disability rights activists in Hawaii who are offering testimony – either through written submissions or in person.   Both Marilyn Golden of the Disability Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) and NDY’s Diane Coleman have submitted written testimony.

Below is an excerpt from Diane Coleman’s testimony:

An increasingly common form of domestic violence became the subject of news coverage in Hawaii in late 2009.  Seventy-one-year-old Robert Yagi had tended daily to his terminally ill wife’s needs and kept her company since she was hospitalized in October that year.  He faced a charge of attempted murder after allegedly firing a plastic flare gun at her. 

This is fairly typical of the cases of successful or attempted murder/suicides seen in elderly people.  The perpetrators are men.  The women have significant health issues.  There is no evidence that the wives in question wanted to die.  Fortunately, she survived.

Nevertheless, that didn’t stop a spokesperson for the Hawaii Death with Dignity Society from attempting to exploit this case of domestic violence to promote his own organization’s agenda.  Scott Foster, spokesman for the Hawaii Death with Dignity Society, asserted that Yagi was trying to end his wife’s suffering:

“When I saw it (on the news), I knew exactly what I was hearing,” he said. “We hear it all the time all over the world, rich people, poor people, people in pain, people suffering.”

There is no indication that Yagi’s wife wanted to be killed.  Or does Mr. Foster believe there should be some sort of law allowing caregivers to order the euthanasia of their spouse or child?  In fact, Foster is just doing what many representatives of pro-euthanasia groups have been doing for years – exploiting cases of domestic violence in which the victim is an elderly, disabled, ill woman by falsely framing them as acts of compassion.

Note – see blog entries here and here for coverage of the exploitation of the Yagi tragedy by Hawaiian euthanasia advocates.

Any coverage of the panel hearing will be shared here when it’s available.  –Stephen Drake