Diverse groups
unite against
assisted death

A coalition of health workers
and religious groups opposes
a promised measure
supporting euthanasia

By Mike Yuen
Star-Bulletin

Thirteen organizations representing physicians, nurses, the disabled, hospices and the religious right have banded together to fight a proposal to legalize doctor-assisted death.

They formed a coalition, Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate and Compassionate Care, formally unveiled today, a week before the Legislature convenes.

Ron Amundson, a professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo who represents the disability-rights organization Not Dead Yet, said: "It is important to recognize that people with disabilities would be vulnerable to the abuse of (doctor-assisted death) under any system of safeguards. We must maintain the legal prohibition against killing -- for all our sakes."

Six months ago, Gov. Ben Cayetano's blue-ribbon panel on death with dignity recommended legislation to legalize euthanasia as well as physician-assisted death, where a doctor would administer a lethal agent.

Cayetano has promised to introduce such a bill, along with other controversial measures that would legalize the medical use of marijuana and establish domestic partnerships for gay couples.

The coalition includes the 1,700-member Hawaii Medical Association, Hawaii Nurses Association, Hawaii Psychiatric Medical Association, Hawaii Family Forum, Hawaii Right to Life, Hawaii Christian Coalition and the coalition's legal arm, the American Center for Law and Justice of Hawaii.

Hospice Hawaii, Hawaii Catholic Conference, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, which represents hospitals and nursing homes, Hawaii Cancer Pain Initiative and the Arc in Hawaii, an alliance for the retarded, are also coalition members.

Heidi Singh, HMA director of legislative and governmental affairs, acknowledged that her organization, which represents physicians, is now linked to groups that it is "not traditionally aligned with. To be in a coalition with diverse -- not just medical -- groups makes an even stronger statement as to the range of opposition to physician-assisted suicide and death. It's not just physicians and so-called right-wing groups. It's a broad range of voices.

"Everyone is singing off the same song sheet."

The HMA's opposition mirrors that of its national organization, the American Medical Association, which believes improvements need to be made in pain management, hospice care and the psychological issues, such as depression, involved in end-of-life care.

The AMA recently established a training program for doctors on end-of-life care, Singh said.

The coalition supports more effective pain management and increased use of hospice care as alternatives to doctor-aided death.

Dr. Brian Issell, a member of Cayetano's blue-ribbon panel who disagreed with the committee's majority's support for legalizing doctor-assisted death, said, "We are not there to be executioners of people."

He added: "Our job is to relieve suffering. We relieve it to the greatest extent we can. Sometimes in relieving the suffering, we hasten the end of life. But we should never do anything to cause death. That's the approach most of my colleagues have taken."