Montana – What Others Are Saying

assisted suicide, blog recommendations, court decisions, euthanasia prevention coalition, Montana, Our News & Commentary Blog, william peace

I’ve been struggling through the decision by the Montana Supreme Court in Baxter v. Montana.  I’m still trying to get my head around the implications of the specific wording used in the decision – a decision which states there is nothing that currently prohibits physician-assisted suicide in Montana law right now (in the court’s interpretation).  As a result, the court declined to evaluate any arguments regarding a “constitutional right” to an assisted suicide.

I’m paying extra attention to the “specially concurring” opinion written by Justice Nelson.  His concurrence is almost as long as the court opinion – and is alarming in just how far this justice would like to see the practice and the “right” of assisted suicide advance in Montana.

But I still need a little time to process this.  Here’s a sample of what others are saying:

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition issued a press release on the day of the decision titled Baxter v. Montana: Assisted-Suicide Lobby Group does not get What it Wanted: The Montana Supreme Court Denies Constitutional Right to “Aid-in-Dying”.

True Compassion Advocates, a group based in Washington state, also issued a press release, titled Baxter v. Montana: The Montana Supreme Court Declines to rule on Constitutional Right to Assisted Suicide; Legislature needs to “step up to the plate” to protect Montana citizens.

Bill Peace, writing at Bad Cripple, gives a pretty blunt assessment of the decision as he sees it in a blog entry titled Assisted Suicide: Legal in Montana. 

Stay tuned, more soon.  –Stephen Drake 

It’s a New Year – A Little Housecleaning and a Word from Ben Mattlin

ben mattlin, blog recommendations, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog

This latest gap in posts was a little longer than planned.  The holiday weeks were filled with several crises, all of which turned out OK, but took away time, attention and energy.

I did a little housecleaning here.  I deleted some comments waiting in the queue – they were both tiresome extensions of exchanges that were already pretty pointless.

There’s a lot happening and I’ll be playing “catch-up” over the next days and weeks.  Right now, I figured I’d share something that seems very appropriate as a kick-off for the New Year.

(Note: yes, I do know about the court decision in Montana and I’ll be writing about it soon.)

Yesterday, NPR’s Morning Edition featured a commentary by friend and ally Ben Mattlin.  You can read or listen to the commentary by going to To One Of the Lucky Ones, The New Year Means More.

Excerpt:

I’ve used a wheelchair my whole life. I no longer have the strength to hold a pencil. Am I still one of the lucky ones?

I believe I am. So, why do so many people feel sorry for me?

They don’t know me, of course. They don’t know that I grew up in a great family, graduated from Harvard, get my writing published, got married and fathered two terrific little girls. There are a lot of reasons why I consider myself lucky.

Still, people have said to me, “If I were like you, I’d kill myself.”

This is supposed to be a compliment, I think. They mean to commend my perseverance. So how come I want to say back, “If I were like you, I’d want to kill myself, too!”

Ben has posted the longer original version of his commentary on his blog, titled Adventures in Modern Life.  Check it out.  –Stephen Drake

More on Canadian Pro-Euthanasia “Awareness” Campaign – from Alex Schadenberg and Toronto Star

alex schadenberg, blog recommendations, euthanasia, euthanasia prevention coalition, marketing, media issues, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality check, thaddeus pope

Earlier this month, this blog shared the news of the emergence of a “new” pro-euthanasia group in Canada and its “awareness” campaign via faux “memorial plaques” (stickers, in reality) on park benches in Toronto.  At the time, the person or persons behind the group was a mystery.

Not any longer.  According to the Toronto Star, it’s the pet project of a couple of advertising professionals:

The stickers are forthright in their message, dreamed up by art director Andy McKay and Manson, his creative partner at Toronto’s Cundari Group. They have both been affected by “bad deaths” among their friends and family.

The fact that this is a project of advertising pros explains a lot.  People who make a living manipulating public attitudes (to increase sales, enhance public image, etc.) tend to concentrate on the ability of the message to affect behavior.  Accuracy is a lower-level concern, and mostly one in terms of avoiding liability and litigation.

Alex Schadenberg, of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, has a lot to say about the latest press coverage and the individuals behind this “awareness” campaign:

This new euthanasia campaign is: (1) being operated by two advertising specialists misleading the public concerning our actual law. (2) They are creating an emotional response to a very serious issue by using fictional stories.

The Dignity in Death website misrepresents what the euthanasia and assisted suicide laws state in Canada. The website falsely states that voluntary euthanasia is already legal in Canada. This is not true. What they appear to mean is that refusing life-sustaining medical treatment is euthanasia. But this is not euthanasia.

Alex has more on the article and the authors of this campaign and I urge people to read the rest of his post.

Thaddeus Pope also wrote a short post about the campaign on his Medical Futility Blog.  In his post, he shares links to the Toronto Star article and the Dignity in Death website.

Pope tends to take a different view on assisted suicide and euthanasia than NDY does.  However, he does tend to have a passion for accuracy.  Evidently that passion didn’t extend to the misinformation on the Dignity in Death website – which he describes as having “some ACP tools and information.” (ACP = advance care planning)  –Stephen Drake

“Celebrate Life” Blasts Two Opponents of Assisted Suicide

advocacy, american life league, assisted suicide, ira byock, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality check

Celebrate Life is the magazine of the American Life League. I think this is the first time this blog has linked to anything from the publication.  The magazine has just published a short article by John Mallon that has been emailed to me from three different sources – all of them apparently thinking it’s a great article.

It isn’t.  It contains smears of two medical professionals who have been two of the most consistent and reliable opponents of legalized assisted suicide that NDY has ever worked with.

Mallon’s article, “Palliative Care: The new stealth Euthanasia,” (pdf) is a superficial patchwork of  cherry-picked factoids and mischaracterizations – with the result being a polemic piece masquerading as research.

By pairing individuals who are committed to better care for dying and seriously ill people with advocates of assisted suicide, he works to eliminate any distinctions between these.  Judging from my mailbox, he has apparently been successful with some people in that goal.

His first target in this regard is Dr. Kathleen Foley, who was director of the Soros-funded Project on Death in America.  Mallon admits Foley opposes assisted suicide, but then dismisses that opposition since it’s not (according to Mallon) based in the belief that “it is inherently wrong.”  As evidence, he quotes Foley’s 2005 testimony before the British House of Lords.  In a nutshell, Foley recounts a list of the failures of the medical system and the growing economic pressures on medical providers who want to provide decent care.  She says that after the decades it might take to fix the problems in the current medical system, it might be appropriate to examine assisted suicide at that point.

Mallon obviously doesn’t like the argument.  But people who won’t care about Mallon’s beliefs listen to Foley.  This wasn’t a one-shot deal for Foley, either.

Dr. Foley co-edited the 2002 book The case against assisted suicide: For the right to end-of-life care, which included a chapter written by NDY founder and president Diane Coleman.   Dr. Foley has also aided coalitions working to oppose legalization of assisted suicide in several states, including Hawaii and California.

Mallon also takes aim at another medical ally in the fight against assisted suicide.  That target is Dr. Ira Byock, the Director of the Palliative Care Program at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

In the interest of full disclosure, I first met Ira Byock in 1997 at a small group meeting of medical and disability advocates opposed to legalized assisted suicide.  Since sometime around 2000 or so, we’ve corresponded several times a year.  At the times we find ourselves at the same event, we have always found time to talk – and generally have a lot to talk about.  I have come to respect Ira more and more over the years for his commitment to principles and his willingness to engage people who disagree with him.  And he’s willing to take flak for taking stands that might not be popular with others in his profession, or people who are generally more in sync politically.

More than that, everything I know about Ira Byock supports the belief that his entire career has been devoted to better patient care – most of it at people’s bedsides.  If I – or someone close to me – was seriously ill, I would love for him to be in charge of the care for me or a loved one.

BTW, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t points of disagreement between NDY and both Ira and Foley.  There are, and they are both people who are open to discussion on those points.

Mallon describes Ira as “nominally opposed to assisted suicide” and puts it in the past tense.  I don’t know if Mallon was being sloppy or deliberately dishonest, but Ira Byock has been consistent in his opposition to legalization of assisted suicide.  In fact, he submitted written testimony in February of this year to the New Hampshire legislature when a bill was being considered, which can be read here.

Ira’s intended audience was the more liberal members of the legislature.  It’s a pretty good bet that most of them don’t bother to pay much attention to submissions from representatives of Conservative pro-life groups.

So what is the “reward” for medical professionals like Ira Byock and Kathleen Foley.  Well, their stances and their actions in opposing assisted suicide don’t win them any friends among “liberals” who support euthanasia and assisted suicide.  And they get to enjoy attacks from the right-wing for not being opposed for the right reasons or not meeting some sort of ideological criteria.

The reality we live in is one in which fewer of our allies in the medical field are willing to be vocal.  And with the animosity resistance to legalized assisted suicide can generate from some on the left, coupled with crap like this from the right, we can’t exactly expect to see any more medical people want to step out and speak in opposition, with their consciences alone motivating them to do so.

We need people like Ira Byock and Kathleen Foley.  They are crucial to efforts to defeat the advocacy of assisted suicide organizations.

If you want to win, you do your best to invite allies in.  You don’t chase them away.

Maybe John Mallon and the American Life League don’t care if we win or not.  –Stephen Drake

Final Exit Network in the News – Reframing Themselves and Erasing the Past

Arizona, assisted suicide, final exit network, homicide, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality check

(Note – please read to the end. The main point of this story is that the Final Exit Network seems to have taken some pains to eliminate traces of a November ’08 press release that might interfere with current efforts to improve their public image. –Stephen)

Unfortunately, there’s been a small rash of elderly men killing – or attempting to kill – their ill wives in the past couple weeks.  One, in Tucson, Arizona, involves a middle-aged man who allegedly killed his wife, who has been struggling with Huntington’s disease – a progressive neurological condition that affects the motor and cognitive abilities.

From the latest story in the Arizona Daily Star:

A Tucson man who told police he killed his wife because she was terminally ill likely did so because he felt he could no longer care for her and had no other options, members of a local support group say.
Sanford Garfinkel, 51, is in the Pima County Jail, booked on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of 56-year-old Mary Garfinkel, his wife of 19 years.
This isn’t the first time the Arizona Daily Star has covered the issue of assisted suicide – and it isn’t the first time they’ve featured the Final Exit Network either.
Unsurprisingly, the portrayal of the Final Exit Network and its agenda is misrepresented in the interview included in this recent press coverage:
Without a law allowing assisted suicide, groups such as Final Exit Network have stepped in to provide access to volunteers who give what they say is “guidance, education and support” to people who intend to take their own lives, said Robert Rivas, an attorney for the New Jersey-based nonprofit organization.
“Final Exit Network would rather never do what they do,” Rivas said. “If assisted-suicide laws were in existence in every state we’d be happy to completely be phased out.”
What assisted laws would those be, I wondered.  As we’ve mentioned before here, the organization issued a press release in November 2008 that stated the assisted suicide laws in Oregon and Washington didn’t go “far enough” and they would be assisting “suffering” people everywhere until there were more expansive laws.
Yesterday, I did what I did in previous instances of this kind of misleading spin – went to the Final Exit Network website to access the press release issued in November 2008.
It’s not there anymore.  The site has been revised and for whatever reason (use your imagination) it has been removed.
Next, I went to The Internet Archive, which accesses the files on websites across the net and archives them.  The site contains the files and material from websites that don’t even exist any more.  The site is that extensive and that good.
(The paragraph below has been corrected to report the appropriate cut-off of archiving of the FEN website)

The press release isn’t there, either.  In fact, the last archive of site files occurred in August 2008.  That is very unusual – I won’t even hazard a guess as to why there aren’t archives for the site from that point on.  That means, of course, that the November ’08 press release isn’t there at all.
Luckily, though, I printed out several copies of the press release some months ago.  In case there is any lingering confusion in anyone’s mind, it is the clear statement by the Final Exit Network that the types of assisted suicide laws in Oregon and Washington State don’t go “far enough” and that they’ll keep facilitating suicides for people until the laws become expansive enough to satisfy them.
Since it’s a pdf of a scanned document, it won’t be accessible to people with vision-related disabilities.  In the interest of full accessibility, the full text of the press release is included below (minus contact info):

FINAL EXIT NETWORK
Contacts:
Ted Goodwin, President                                                 Marietta, GA
Jerry Dincin, PhD, Vice President
News For Immediate Release
Washington State Passes I-1000!
November 5, 2008
Olympia, WA
Although the supporters of Initiative I-1000 are delighted that Washington becomes the second state to pass a “Death with Dignity Act”, there is much more work to be done.
Ted Goodwin, President of Final Exit Network, said, “We congratulate all those who worked so hard to achieve this important right for Washington’s citizens, and we applaud the citizens of Washington State for making the right choice.  “Final Exit Network and its members supported passage of this landmark initiative by donating to the advocacy effort spearheaded by Washington Death with Dignity and former Governor Booth Gardner.  However, the job is not finished”.
Although, like Oregon’s “Death with Dignity Act,” I-1000 gives doctors the authority to prescribe a lethal dose of medications to terminally ill individuals under strict controls, it condemns to continued suffering as many as 40% of those who desperately want to end their life because of intolerable suffering but cannot under the law because their illness is not diagnosed as “terminal”.
“Unfortunately, “ said Goodwin, “many patients do not meet I-1000’s strict criteria.  Individuals with neurological illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and Alzheimer’s disease often lose the reason and will to live long before their disease qualifies as ‘terminal’.”  Goodwin adds, “For these individuals, neither I-1000 nor the Oregon law go far enough.  “That is why Final Exit Network pledges, until laws protect the right of every adult to a peaceful, dignified death, Final Exit Network will be there to support those who need relief from their suffering today!”
“The Network’s Exit Guide Program is available nationwide,” Goodwin said.  “With the Network’s compassionate guidance and support, physically and emotionally competent adults in all fifty states are free to exercise their last human right – the right to a peaceful, dignified death.  “Final Exit Network is the only organization in the United States that will support individuals who are not “terminally ill” – 6 months or less to live – to hasten their deaths.  No other organization in the US makes this commitment,” said Goodwin.
Final Exit Network is a four-year-old volunteer-run nonprofit that is committed to serve many move other organizations turn away!  More information is available from (contact information omitted).
*** 

Please feel free to share this.  And if anyone from the Final Exit Network is reading this:

If you’re proud of what you’ve done and what you stand for, why do you have to hide documents like this and lie about what your real goals are?  –Stephen Drake