Assisted Suicide: Truth and Transparency

By Barbara Coombs Lee, OregonLive.com

October 5, 2008 

Two right-to-life doctors wrote in a recent Op-Ed piece that Compassion &
Choices, the nation's largest end-of-life choice organization, carries out its mission with secrecy and force. 

Their absurd inaccuracies demand a response. 

Yes, Death with Dignity may be a hot-button issue for some. Not everyone agrees aid in dying should be legal. But the name-calling (calling our group "Conspiracy and Control") is uncalled for and untrue. 

Drs. Stevens and Toffler claim aid in dying is a covert operation in Oregon. They assert they are striving for "increased transparency -- not conspiracy and control." 

In fact, transparency is exactly what makes this law so successful. Meticulous, independent, academic studies show the underground practice in Oregon has completely ceased, having been replaced with transparent, regulated and safe medical practice. 

Statistics from the past 11 years are available and accessible from the Oregon Department of Human Services . Each year they are published and widely circulated. 

Even staunch opponents have examined the data and acknowledge its safety. 

"When all things are considered, the arguments in favor of continued prohibition (of aid in dying) are not particularly compelling," ethics professor Daniel E. Lee concluded several years ago in the Hastings Center Report. "This is not to suggest that those of us with deep moral reservations should swallow our scruples and spearhead legalization campaigns. But it does suggest that we should not stand in the way of thoughtful individuals who favor legalization." 

Stevens and Toffler cite The Oregonian's recent editorial to back their claims. In fact, last January the paper came to recognize the benefits of the Death with Dignity Act, admitting that its prior misgivings did not materialize. 

The editorial, "Booth Gardner¹s final campaign," states the I-1000 measure"could foster discussion of end-of-life care, which will benefit all Washingtonians." While Stevens and Toffler allege aid in dying has not improved end-of-life care, The Oregonian cites multiple ways in which the Oregon law has done exactly that. "Among the 50 states, Oregon can also boast the lowest rate of hospital deaths and the highest rate of death in home or hospice settings," the board wrote.

Stevens and Toffler misrepresent valid research to claim falsely that pain care in Oregon has worsened. Their assertion that Compassion & Choices controls "what the public is told" about aid in dying is laughable. We can't influence independent medical researchers or their published papers. We can help patients navigate a difficult time and provide comprehensive information and nonjudgmental support. Compassion & Choices is committed to allowing impartial experts to review the law's implementation. 

The law has increased transparency and truth about how people die. Today medical science knows more about decision-making under Oregon's Death with Dignity law than any other end-of-life decision anywhere in the country. Forbes Magazine even cited Oregon's legal protections in ranking it second among America's "Best Places to Die." The law has improved end-of-life care in Oregon, and all but the most ardent right-to-life advocates throughout the nation acknowledge that proven finding. 

Barbara Coombs Lee is president of Compassion & Choices, a national non-profit advocating for better care and choices at the end of life. She lives in Portland.

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