LIFE DIGEST: Washington’s suicide report mirrors Oregon’s
- Mar 9, 2010 -
Washington appears to be following in the steps of Oregon, based on the first annual report since physician-assisted suicide became legal in the state.
The Washington Department of Health reported at least 36 people died from taking lethal doses of drugs prescribed in 2009. Four other prescription recipients died without the state knowing if they took the medication. Another seven prescription recipients died without taking the drugs. The report, released March 4, covered prescriptions dispensed from March 5 of last year until the end of 2009.
Also in this edition: More than 200 babies saved through 40 Days, Fertility drop to have negative impact, U.N. report says, and Senate panel OKs abortion legal advocate.
As has been the case in Oregon, those who received prescriptions under Washington’s assisted suicide law were most concerned about a lack of freedom and control.
Of the 47 prescription recipients who died, 100 percent were concerned about “losing autonomy,” 91 percent about an inability “to engage in activities making life enjoyable” and 82 percent about a “loss of dignity.” Only 25 percent were concerned about “inadequate pain control,” and just one of the 47 people was concerned about “financial implications.”
Oregon, which has had legal assisted suicide since late 1997, again showed similar results in its 2009 report, which was released March 3. In Oregon, 97 percent were concerned about “losing autonomy,” 86 percent about being unable “to engage in activities making life enjoyable” and 92 percent about a “loss of dignity.”
Washington also mirrored Oregon in the low number of people who were referred for psychiatric evaluation. Only seven percent, or three of the 47 people who died, were referred to psychiatrists, while none in Oregon in 2009 were referred for psychiatric evaluation.
“So, Washington looks like Oregon, redux,” bioethics commentator Wesley Smith wrote on his weblog March 6. “And that’s too bad. Terminally ill patients deserve better than to have their worst fears verified by doctors issuing lethal prescriptions instead of vowing to stay with the patient to the end caring for their pain, validating their dignity and supporting the importance of their lives.
Oregon reported 59 people died after taking lethal doses of prescriptions in 2009. That brings the total of people in the state who have died by legalized assisted suicide to 460.
Montana is the only other state that permits assisted suicide. A court legalized the practice in the state, while voters made it legal in Oregon and Washington.
In assisted suicide, doctors are permitted to prescribe drugs to assist in suicides but not to administer them to the person taking his own life.
More than 200 babies saved through 40 Days
More than 200 unborn babies reportedly have been saved from abortion during the first half of the latest 40 Days for Life campaign.
After 20 days of the nationwide effort, the mothers of 209 unborn children informed 40 Days for Life participants they had changed their minds about abortion, said David Bereit, national director of the organization, in a March 8 email.
The pro-life effort, which has occurred twice a year since the fall of 2007, consists of 40 days of prayer and fasting to end abortion, as well as peaceful prayer vigils outside abortion clinics and community outreach during the same time period. The latest campaign began Feb. 17 in 167 cities, primarily in the United States but also in Australia, Canada and Northern Ireland.
Bereit included the following reports from local 40 Days efforts:
- In Phoenix, Ariz., at least 11 babies have been saved from abortion, and two volunteer escorts for an abortion clinic have quit.
- In Jacksonville, Fla., “A woman and her daughter spent about an hour in the parking lot at the abortion center, entering and leaving the business several times. Finally, they drove out of the lot. The young woman rolled down her window and said, ‘I am not going to have an abortion.’”
Fertility drop to have negative impact, U.N. report says
The combination of declining fertility and an aging population will dramatically affect the world, especially in poorer countries, according to a United Nations report.
“World Population Ageing 2009,” released in December by the U.N. Population Division and reported on March 4 by the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), showed there is a continually decreasing number of workers to support the growing number of elderly people. The ratio of workers to non-workers fell from 12-1 in 1950 to 9-1 in 2009, according to the report. By 2050, there will be only four workers providing support for each retiree.
The report provided little hope of a turn-around. It said, according to C-FAM, “Population [aging] is unprecedented, a process without parallel in the history of humanity. Population [aging] is pervasive since it is affecting nearly all the countries of the world. . . . Population [ageing] is enduring. . . . As long as old-age mortality continues to decline and fertility remains low, the proportion of older persons will continue to increase.”
Despite the warning, U.N. agencies, including the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA), continue to promote fertility control, according to C-FAM. UNFPA even has been found to support China’s coercive population control policy, which includes forced abortion and sterilization.
Senate panel OKs abortion legal advocate
The Senate Judiciary Committee forwarded a former lawyer for leading abortion rights organizations to the full Senate for a confirmation vote to a top Justice Department post.
The Democrat-controlled panel voted 12-7 along party lines for Dawn Johnsen, President Obama’s nominee as assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel. Johnsen, 48, a law professor at Indiana University, served as legal director of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, now known as NARAL Pro-choice America, from 1988-93. Previously, she had worked for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project.
The Judiciary Committee forwarded her nomination last March to the full Senate, but a confirmation vote never occurred in 2009. The president renominated her in January.
Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, wrote committee leaders in February and asked them to oppose Johnsen’s confirmation.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission works to protect the sanctity of human life. If you would like to learn more about this issue, additional resources are available here. Our free, downloadable Impact resource is also available online. If your church is interested in purchasing materials on the sanctity of human life, please visit our online bookstore and erlc.com.
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