Death With Dignity garners support in Central Oregon

Last month turned local attention to Oregon's Death with Dignity Act with two events: A reception at Circle of Friends Art Gallery in Tumalo introducing Compassion & Choices to Central Oregon; and a Frontiers in Science lecture at The Belfry in Sisters entitled "What is Death with Dignity?"

At the Belfry, Dr. Edward Weiser, a gynecological oncologist, and his wife, Peg Brand, PhD, offered a slide presentation and lecture covering the history of suicide from Greco-Roman times, including Socrates and his decision to drink hemlock, to Dr. Jack Kevorkian and his suicide machine, to the recent court battles in the U.S. and around the world to allow facilitated death for the terminally ill, known as death with dignity, and how the current laws evolved.

Proponents do not use the term "suicide" because it is so emotionally charged. A recent study asked people on the street the same question about allowing assisted dying-in one version, the phrase "assisted suicide" was used. It garnered more negative reactions than the same question that used "aid in dying," which was widely favored.

Oregon's Death with Dignity Act, which went into effect in 1997, has become the model for ballot measures around the country, with similar laws recently passed in Washington via a citizen's referendum (2008), legislative action in Vermont (2013), and court victories in Montana (2009) and New Mexico (January 2014). The New Jersey Assembly is expected to vote on its "Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act" this fall, and similar death-with-dignity bills have been introduced in Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

Dr. Weiser stated: "In spite of claims from the opposition that Oregon would become the suicide capital of the U.S., that has not happened." In 2013, 122 people requested life-ending medication and 71 actually took the medication, accounting for 0.2 percent of all deaths in the state.

Under Oregon's law, mentally competent adult Oregon residents, who have been diagnosed by a physician to have a terminal illness that will cause their death within six months, may request a prescription that they can choose to self-ingest to end their dying process if it becomes unbearable to them.

Exercise of the option under this law is absolutely voluntary - the patient must make the choice, initiate the request, and be capable of self-administering the medication at the time of his or her choosing. Any physician, pharmacist or healthcare provider who has moral objections may refuse to participate.

Since Oregon's law was the first death-with-dignity law to be passed in the U.S., it was designed to be fully monitored and tracked. As a result, it can be a complicated process to navigate and it could take months to get the prescription.

Compassion & Choices provides free consultation and information services to help families understand their end-of-life options to avoid suffering, which currently include: voluntary stopping of eating and drinking (VSED), refusing unwanted medical treatment, discontinuing life-sustaining treatment and the medical practice of aid in dying. For more information, call Compassion & Choices toll-free consultation number, 800.247.7421, or visit http://www.compassionandchoices.org.

Compassion & Choices also has a network of organizations and individuals, mostly volunteers, all over the country working in their communities, empowering healthcare consumers, influencing their lawmakers and calling for personal autonomy in healthcare decisions. At this time, in many areas of the country, especially in rural areas, the healthcare system is not well organized to provide consistent, reliable support to adults who know and are able to express how they want to approach the end of their lives. Many physicians are not trained or comfortable with end-of-life discussions.

Diane Campbell, a Sisters resident and Compassion & Choices volunteer, urged the nonprofit to develop a presence in Central Oregon. Compassion & Choices provided a team from Portland, including Oregon State Director Kat West, Outreach Coordinator Matt Whittaker, and Oregon Medical Director Dr. David Grube. The speakers at last month's talk addressed their work with Compassion & Choices and took questions from among the more than 30 attendees, including three local physicians.

Dr. Grube, a family physician from Corvallis, stressed the importance of teaching doctors and medical students about choices at end of life, and emphasized the two things that matter most to patients: comfort (physical and spiritual) and respect (listening to their story and what they want).

Sue Porter, a longtime C&C volunteer and leadership council member, and Jo Zucker, whose mother decided to pursue the death with dignity option, shared their stories.

Compassion & Choices is forming an outreach volunteer team in Central Oregon to help educate the public about end-of-life care and choice issues. The first meeting will be in Bend on October 30. For more information about volunteering, contact Matt Whitaker at 1-503-858-9058 or [email protected]