LA Times Op-Ed: “Different assisted-suicide groups, one goal”

assisted suicide, california, final exit network, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog

On March 23, the LA Times published an editorial titled Sense and suicide, which bemoaned the damage that the Final Exit Network could do to the mainstream assisted suicide movement. From that starting point, they went on to extol the virtues of legalized assisted suicide, arguing that the expansive eligibility criteria of the FEN would never be tolerated by society. The editorial staff, who, like most of the reporters and editors covering FEN, seem to be drinking from the same large cup of “stupid,” haven’t noticed that a lot of public reaction is supporting the FEN.

Today’s issue of the same paper features a “blowback” op-ed by Stanton J. Price, “a health lawyer and member of the Los Angeles County Bar Assn.’s Bioethics Committee, which he recently co-chaired.”

Below are some excerpts from Price’s excellent refutation of the Times Editorial:

Different assisted-suicide groups, one goal

Both Compassion and Choices and the Final Exit Network take the definition of “intolerable suffering” beyond terminal illness. They believe that a person suffering from a condition that he or she believes is unbearable (rightly or wrongly) should legally be allowed assistance in ending their own life, whether by inhaling helium from a tank or overdosing on barbiturates. This is a frightening prospect for people with disabilities, particularly those who think they may be burdens on their family and for those of us fighting for disability rights.

Price reminds people of a pivotal deciding vote in the legislative defeat of the last attempt to legalize assisted suicide in California:

For The Times to write about the Final Exit Network, “Society is unlikely ever to condone the kind of ethically questionable ‘help’ such groups offer,” is naive. When this issue was before the California Senate’s Judiciary Committee two years ago, then-state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) voted against the bill and said that he “could not resolve the risk that the power of money will ultimately define [assisted suicide’s] parameters.” To me, Dunn has a more realistic view of society than The Times.

Please go and read this op-ed in its entirety and comment on it. Right now, there are no comments, and it would be good for Mr. Price and the editors to know there are people out there who appreciate his insight. –Stephen Drake

Drake & Sobsey: “Let’s put this pet theory to sleep” on MercatorNet

articles, dick sobsey, euthanasia, myths, Our News & Commentary Blog, pets, reality check, stephen drake

About a month ago, I wrote two blog entries dealing with the mythology vs. the reality of pet euthanasia. It’s an important topic, since euthanasia advocates often say something along the lines of “we can put a suffering dog to sleep, but we make humans suffer.” All the variations on this theme imply that all acts of pet euthanasia are acts of kindness to alleviate the suffering of a beloved pet.

The two articles have been edited and made into an article now available on MercatorNet, which has a publishing focus, in part, in “reframing ethical and policy debates in terms of human dignity, not dollars and cents or political calculation.”

The original blog entries drew on Dick Sobsey’s writing and research. He agreed to work with me and we submitted this as a coauthored piece.

I’m providing a link and an excerpt. MercatorNet has a generous redistribution policy, but it’s only right that I show my gratitude by directing you to their site to read the article. –Stephen Drake

Stephen Drake and Dick Sobsey | Friday, 27 March 2009

Let’s put this pet theory to sleep

We have suffered long enough the euthanasia lobby’s myth that society is kinder to animals than to humans.

Over the years, we’ve gotten thoroughly sick and tired of the repeated use of the myths surrounding pet euthanasia as an argument in favor of providing the same “service” for humans. The myth seems to gaining new vigor in recent months.

Clarification on Facebook Entry

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One person has submitted a comment expressing a concern that the instructions regarding access to this blog on facebook. Since I was sloppily wrote with facebook users as my readers, I forgot that people who don’t use it might think the blog was actually moving there – which would mean only facebook users could access the blog.

That is not happening. This blog will continue to be readable in whatever way you are currently accessing it.

The facebook instructions were meant to give some people an additional option for reading this blog – for facebook users only.

Nothing, really, has changed about how anyone can read this blog – except for facebook users who want to use the networkedblogs feature.

I apologize for the confusion. –Stephen Drake

Viewing Not Dead Yet – and Other Blogs – on Facebook

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Confession: the instructions below have been only slightly modified from an original set of instructions written by Dick Sobsey at the ICAD blog. I’ve already suggested that people who check this blog regularly should bookmark the ICAD blog. Similarly, substitute “ICAD” for “Not Dead Yet” in the instructions below and you can view ICAD easily on Facebook.

Ripped off and slightly edited instructions below:

Facebook users may want to follow Not Dead Yet and any other blogs of interest through the Facebook NetworkedBlogs application. It is an easy and efficient way to keep up with the various blogs you follow. If you are interested and use Facebook here is how to get started (If you are interested but don’t use Facebook, you will need to register for Facebook first). Just follow the six easy (honest!) steps below:

1.Click here on NetworkedBlogs. The application page will open in a new browser window. (You may be asked to sign in to facebook if you are not already signed in or haven’t enabled automatic sign in).

2. On the NewtworkedBlogs page, click on “Go To Application,” which is near the top right-hand corner.

3. You will probably asked for permission for the application to access your profile. You need to tell the application that this is okay.

4. You will now see a page with lots and lots of blogs on it that you can add to the blogs you want to follow. You simply click on “add this” to add any blog to your list.

5. In the search box below the blue facebook bar at the top and directly to the right of NetworkedBlogs logo, type Not Dead Yet and click the Go button. (hint: if you put a space after “Not Dead Yet” or type in Not Dead Yet News, it will help eliminate some false hits and insure that the NDY blog is the first choice).

6. The Not Dead Yet News & Commentary blog will come up at or near the top of the list. Simply click on follow. In a second or two, the word follow will change to following and you are signed up.

==============

There are three more optional things that you may want to do. You can do any or all of them now, or you can decide whether to do them later on.

First, at the very bottom of the page, you can click on bookmark NetworkedBlogs. This will add a small circular symbol in your bookmarks at the bottom of the page that you can use to take you to your blogs instantly anytime that you are using facebook.

Second, find and add any other blogs that you would like to follow on facebook and add them to your blog list.

Third, You can add a blogs tab on your profile page, if you wish. Just go to your Facebook Profile Page. Under your name, you will see tabs for Wall, Info, and any others you’ve added. The final tab on the right is a + sign. Simply click on it. to reveal a menu and click on Blogs under teh menu to add a blogs tab to the page. This is another way of making your blogs quickly accessible through facebook.

Arizona Daily Star Allows Final Exit Network Activist Free Rein in Terms of “Spin” and Outright Lies

assisted suicide, final exit network, media issues, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality check

The Arizona Daily Star may just win the “lowest editorial standards of the year” for this year. I hope so, anyway. I’d hate to see what it would take to beat the combination of unconcern for factual accuracy and the apparent ignorance of criminal investigations in their own state. That is the only way to explain the free hand they gave to Earl Wettstein, former president of the Final Exit Network, in spinning and outright lying about his organization and its activities.

On March 19th, the AZ Daily Star published Wettstein’s essay “Final Exit Network helps people die with their dignity intact.”

In the course of the op-ed, Wettstein engages in the following outright lies:

  • Describes John Celmer (Georgia “client”) was terminally ill.
  • States that the people they “help” are “terminally ill from an incurable disease.”
  • States that Celmer would have been able to get assisted suicide legally if he lived in Oregon.

In fact, John Celmer was found to be free of cancer, according to the coroner’s autopsy report. John Celmer was not “terminally ill” by any recognized definition of the term.

All of this means, of course, that John Celmer would not – in theory – have qualified for getting physician “assistance” in Oregon. Unless Wettstein knows something about doctors breaking or bending the laws there that the authorities don’t, that is.

But I have no doubt Wettstein knows this is false (that’s a polite way of saying he’s lying). As mentioned in yesterday’s blog entry, FEN issued a press release last year that stated the laws in Oregon and Washington didn’t go far enough and that FEN would “help” those who weren’t eligible for legal “assistance” in those states.

The Arizona Daily Star should have known the “terminally ill” claim was a load of crap if they followed the news in their own state. Considering they are supposed to cover the news Arizona, that would seem to be a minimum standard.

See, Wettstein carefully avoided mentioning the death of Jana van Voorhis, who committed suicide with the assistance of FEN members in 2007. Voorhis had minor physical ailments, but had struggled for years with emotional and psychiatric issues. Her death has been under investigation since August 2007, and that investigation is now part of the multi-state effort to examine FEN and its activities.

But the Arizona Daily Star never covered the story – I guess that, as far as they’re concerned, if its news from another paper, it doesn’t exist.

The involvement of FEN members is not in dispute. Two members admitted to being present at the time. More recently, Ted Goodwin admitted they were a little sloppy back then, but (trust him!), they are much better now:

Goodwin says the vetting process was tightened in 2007, after questions about Van Voorhis’ death.

Goodwin defended the group’s involvement, saying Van Voorhis suffered from other illnesses, but people who sought help after her were asked to detail their complete mental history.

Obviously, op-eds are submitted to looser editorial standards than basic news stories, but there is a difference between “loose” and “nonexistent.” The editorial staff at the AZ Daily Star found that line and crossed it with ease. –Stephen Drake