Berg: Assisted-suicide law more likely
Eureka assemblywoman's proposal has been on hold awaiting court ruling
January 18, 2006
By BLEYS W. ROSE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The chances for adopting assisted-suicide legislation in California were strengthened Tuesday by the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that backed Oregon's law, said leading supporters, including North Coast Assemblywoman Patty Berg. http://ads.pressdemo.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.pressdemocrat.com/local/5620/Middle/PD_Manly_BigAdLocal/PD_Manly_BigAdLocal01.html/554e4b4e4f574e?www.manlyauto.com"This ruling is an enormous boost because the cloud over whether the federal government will impair our bill has been lifted," said Berg, D-Eureka. "We have every reason to believe that we will pass a bill in California this year."
California and Vermont are the only two states where bills are pending that mirror Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, approved by voters in 1994, supporters said.
Last year, Berg and co-author Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, introduced AB 651, which would allow doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medication to patients who want to end their lives and have less than six months to live. Currently, the bill is being considered by the state Senate Judiciary Committee.
Berg said her proposal has added what she views as safeguards that improve on the Oregon law.
One involves requiring people contemplating doctor-assisted suicide to first consult with two doctors and for the physicians to provide written statements of options for the patient to consider. Another requires that patients who are not registered with a hospice agency undergo a mental competence evaluation by a psychiatrist or psychologist before being given life-ending drugs.
Local physicians have mixed opinions about such a law. The California Medical Association opposes Berg's bill, but physicians line up on both sides.
Michael Gospe, medical director of ethics at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, said that despite the court decision, he remains opposed to a California law because end-of-life decisions should be medical and not political.
However, he said the court decision may end up helping physicians who specialize in palliative and hospice care because they tread a fine line between prescribing drugs that relieve pain and those that some experts say are more likely to end life.
"Physicians are going to be more comfortable in prescribing medication for pain relief," he said. "A lot of doctors are concerned about giving adequate pain relief for fear that the government will be looking over their shoulder."
Supporters of physician-assisted suicide legislation said the decision will restart lobbying efforts that have been dormant awaiting the Supreme Court ruling.
The Rev. John Brooke of Cotati, a minister in the United Church of Christ, said the Compassion and Choices group that supports Berg's bill would work on convincing legislators of popular support for physician-assisted suicide.
Brooke said he has been working on the issue since 1992, when California voters turned down a similar death-with-dignity initiative by a 54-46 margin.
"If the court had gone the other way, the possibility of passing this in California would have been greatly diminished," Brooke said. "Until now, the Legislature was reluctant to get involved, and this opens the door."
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