8mm
Posted on 08/05/2008 4:19:15 PM PDT by wagglebee
Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll shows a plurality of voters favor a measure appearing on the November ballot in Washington that would make the state the second to legalize assisted suicide. Only Oregon currently allows the grisly practice and I-1000 would have Washington state follow suit.
The latest statewide Elway Poll of Washington voters shows so many voters are undecided about where they stand on the measure that neither side has a majority.
Some 39 percent of those polled said they favor the assisted suicide measure while 26 percent opposed it.
The poll of 405 registered voters was taken July 27-31, with a margin of sampling error at 5 percentage points.
The debate over the assisted suicide proposal could turn into a one-sided affair if only because backers of the initiative have a nearly 12-1 advantage in fundraising.
The campaign for the initiative has raised $1,124,000 with $315,000 coming in from the group that made assisted suicide legal in Oregon. The main group opposing I-1000 has raised just $95,600.
While opponents have raised all of their money from Washington residents, assisted suicide crusaders have brought in funds from out of state.
"Most of our donations come from Washington, Oregon, California, New York and Florida," Peg Sandeen, the executive director of the Oregon-based Death With Dignity National Center, admitted to the Vancouver Columbian newspaper last month.
To help engender more support across party lines, two attorneys are working with a group of state legislators who are Democrats to create a new Democrats Against Assisted Suicide organization.
Sen. Margarita Prentice, chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, is a member of the new group and says the proposal has significant problems.
"This very dangerous initiative never would have passed the Legislature," she said, adding that lower-income and lower-educated residents would face pressure to end their lives instead of receiving further medical care.
Meanwhile, Dan Duringer, of the group LifePAC, told the newspaper that assisted suicide will lead to euthanasia.
"We understand the convenience of people wanting to have control at the end of their lives, but this also takes away control from people who are vulnerable," he said. "Coercion can be a very subtle thing."
"We don't think the safeguards are there or can be there," he added. "There's a real concern when Mr. Gardner says this is just the first shot. We know he wants to go further."
Related web sites:
Washington Coalition Against Assisted Suicide - http://www.noassistedsuicide.com
Human Life of Washington -- http://www.humanlife.net
Pro-Life Ping
It’s the craziest idea I have ever heard of.
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I know several people who I would gladly assist. Just ask!!
I’m all for assisted suicide. It’s humane. It’s the right thing. It’s done every day in America with “smurf drops” now.
Get off your high horses. Death is part of life. It needn’t be harsh just because you disagree.
Yeah, well if it doesn’t pass in WA., Oregon is not a long drive. I live in Oregon. The most beautiful, leftist state on left coast. Our new state motto should be, “Oregon, the Vermont of the West Coast”.
I see a member of the FR pro-death squad has already showed up. Look out for more to tout assisted suicide.
The deathbots add excitement to these threads.
Yes, death is a NATURAL process, there is no need to chemically induce it.
Like this crazy fad of young people adopting ‘Hussein’ as their middle name, Washingtonians should seriously consider doing the same with ‘Kevorkian.’
It’s KEWL, ya’know?
“I know several people who I would gladly assist. Just ask!!”
I’d do it. I guess to be on the safe side, I would like to see proof of voting registration. You’ve gotta be a Democrat to qualify for my free services. But then again, who else would do something like that but the Loony Left?
“I’m all for assisted suicide. It’s humane. It’s the right thing. It’s done every day in America with “smurf drops” now.
Get off your high horses. Death is part of life. It needn’t be harsh just because you disagree.”
Next stop...involuntary euthanasia...woohoo...lets off grandma for her cash...
So is defecating. There's a time and place for everything. It's not appropriate for you to defecate here, and it's not appropriate to cause anyone's death because you consider them inconvenient.
Þ
Not when the death dealers get their way.
Þ
LMAO!
As medicine becomes socialized this will become a more and more popular choice. Eventually the state will decide for you when you will take “physician asissted suicide”.
The problem with legalization of ‘assisted suicide’ is that it moves it into the realm of accepted medical treatment. Your HMO or socialized health care plan feels it will be too expensive to treat you? Well, here’s your option...
This whole issue is a ruse. If someone wants to off themselves, they can pick up the supplies at the Wal-Mart Pharmacy or Sporting Goods department for $5 or less.
Perhaps it should be.
Let me give you a concrete example of your way of doing things.
My brother's friend died last week. He was a moonshiner and his product destroyed his liver. As the ammonia accumulated in his bloodstream, he went insane and suffered immense pain. But they couldn't ease his pain with medication because his liver couldn't process them. They would have hastened his death. Instead, he writhed in pain until his esophagus and bowels ruptured and he bled out.
A completely inhumane way to go, if you ask me. There should be an alternative, eh?
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