---

‘Death with dignity’ could
find impetus elsewhere

THE ISSUE Physician-assisted suicide is being considered by California and Vermont legislatures and is before the U.S. Supreme Court.

HAWAII has not seriously considered the issue of physician-assisted suicide for three years. The spotlight has shifted to California and Vermont legislation patterned after the Oregon law, which itself faces a challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court. This is a good time for Hawaii advocates of "death with dignity" to sit back and observe those developments in planning their next effort.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled eight years ago that states are not constitutionally prohibited from authorizing physicians to prescribe lethal medications at the request of terminally ill patients wanting to end their lives. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote that the task of safeguarding such "liberty interests" should be entrusted to the "laboratory" of states.

In 2001, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft tried to nullify Oregon's Death With Dignity Act by unleashing federal drug agents to sanction doctors for providing the lethal doses. Ashcroft's extreme tactic was rejected by a federal judge and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, agreeing that drug laws were intended to combat trafficking and use of illicit drugs, not to badger physicians. The high court has agreed to hear the Bush administration's appeal.

The bill mirroring the Oregon law is scheduled to go before the California legislature next month. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the issue. Although Schwarzenegger is Catholic, and the church is opposed to doctor-assisted suicide, he has disagreed with the Vatican on gay rights and stem-cell research. And while a California referendum on the issue failed by a narrow margin in 1992, recent statewide and national polls show large majorities in favor of the idea.

Former Gov. Ben Cayetano's Blue Ribbon Panel on Living with Dignity recommended in 1998 that the Legislature permit physician-assisted death when requested by a mentally alert patient. The House approved a measure in 2002 after scaling it back to limit assisted death to terminally ill patients diagnosed to die within six months. The bill was rejected by the Senate after an emotionally charged debate.

In the current session, the House Health Committee set the proposal aside a month ago following a six-hour hearing that drew oral or written testimony from more than 1,000 people. Committee Chairman Dennis Arakaki said "the sentiment is against it" but allowed, "I don't think it's going to go away."

Proposals in Hawaii and other states are modeled after the Oregon statute. It provides for terminally ill patients to take the prescribed, lethal drug themselves orally after a certain period and specifically prohibits "lethal injection, mercy killing or active euthanasia."

A favorable Supreme Court ruling and enactment of the laws in California and Vermont could create impetus. Those advances would create the best opportunity for Hawaii to revisit the issue.