[ OUR OPINION ]
Terminally ill deserve
the right to choice
in dyingSIX years have passed since a blue-ribbon panel appointed by then-Gov. Ben Cayetano recommended that physician-assisted death of terminally ill patients be permitted in Hawaii. The state House approved the measure two years ago but the Senate defeated it by two votes. The Legislature is considering the proposal in the current session and should not delay its enactment yet another year.
THE ISSUE
The House Judiciary Committee has approved a bill that would allow physicians to assist terminally ill patients wishing to end their lives.
Like previous versions, the measure before the Legislature would allow a terminally ill, competent adult to obtain a lethal dose of medication for the purpose of ending his or her life. Opponents, including Governor Lingle, warn that enactment of such legislation would create a "slippery slope," but the bill specifically prohibits mercy killings, lethal objections and active euthanasia.
As pointed out in a Feb. 12 column on these pages by Roland L. Halpern, executive director of Compassion In Dying of Hawaii, the bill before the Legislature includes more than a dozen safeguards to prevent abuse. Doctors must counsel patients on alternative forms of treatment, the patients must be physically able to self-administer the lethal medication and the patients are subject to a mandatory waiting period.
The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill last week by a 10-5 vote and sent it to the full House. The proposal's chance of passage are promising in the House. As in 2002, a closer battle is expected in the Senate.
The bill is similar to Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, ratified by 60 percent of that state's voters in 1997. Since it became law, 129 Oregonians asked for a prescribed lethal dose through 2002, the most recent year in which data is presently available.
Far more patients have taken their own lives by refusing to eat or drink, according to a national survey last year of 1,902 doctors, nearly 400 of whom had been asked by terminally ill patients for assistance in dying. Doctors agreed to assist 80 patients in dying, even though Oregon is the only state where such aid is legal.
Medical advances have allowed people to live beyond their expectations and, in many cases, their desire. Rep. Marilyn Lee, a Judiciary Committee member who voted for the bill but with reservations, suggests that similar advances have led to medications that relieve pain and suffering. "Really," says Lee, a nurse for 35 years, "no one should be in constant pain in today's world."
However, Oregon patients who were ready to die cited their poor quality of life created by their terminal ailments, not pain and suffering. Such terminally ill patients should be allowed assistance in ending their lives with dignity.
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UPW shows clout by
shielding smokersFEARFUL of offending the mighty United Public Workers union, the state House has unanimously approved a bill that could subject the state to thousands of dollars in federal fines by allowing public school janitors and cafeteria workers to smoke on campus through the remainder of their union contract, which allows smoking. The proposed delay in complying with a federal smoking ban in schools until next year is an extreme example of public employee unions' control of the Legislature.
THE ISSUE
A bill approved by the House would delay compliance with a federal smoking ban in public schools until school employees' present contract expires.
A Big Island parent became incensed two years ago about smoking at her son's Big Island elementary school. She learned that it was in violation of the 1994 federal Pro-Children Act, which bans smoking in all schools receiving federal money. She contacted legislators, but they balked last year at the idea of offending the UPW by complying with the federal law, even though violations can bring fines of up to $1,000 a day for each continuing violation.
William Modzeleski, associate director of the U.S. Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, asked schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto in December to investigate the situation and report back to him. If the bill passes in its present form, Hamamoto will be in the risky position of telling the feds that Hawaii will continue to violate the law into next year because of the UPW's hammer lock on the state.
The original bill would have initiated the smoking ban upon the bill's enactment. It was supported by the state Health Department, the American Lung Association, HMSA, the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii and various parents, all of whom together cannot match the political muscle of the UPW.
Rep. Dennis Arakaki, who introduced the bill, said the delay is intended to "give them time to work it out." He added, "Now we're sort of forcing the issue and making it very clear where the Legislature is coming from." It couldn't be more clear.
