X-Message-Number: 8305 Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 08:05:46 -0700 From: David Brandt-Erichsen <> Subject: Oregon update Abridged from the New York Times, June 10 OREGON MOVES NEARER TO NEW VOTE ON ALLOWING ASSISTED SUICIDE By CAREY GOLDBERG SEATTLE -- When Oregon enacted the nation's first law permitting doctors to help their terminally ill patients commit suicide, the state was expected to become a national laboratory for a new way of dying. But the measure has been held up in the courts since it became law in 1994, and Oregon lawmakers agreed on Monday to send the whole idea back to the voters for a possible repeal of the law. In the final legislative act needed to set the referendum in motion, the Oregon Senate voted 20 to 10 to ask the people this fall whether they want to repeal Measure 16, the ballot initiative decreeing that terminally ill patients can ask their doctors for a prescription to end their lives. The move brought predictions that until November, Oregon would be the primary arena for the emotionally laden struggle over assisted suicide, already debated at a high pitch across the country. Both sides of the debate in Oregon predict victory in a referendum. The initial measure was approved with only 51 percent of the vote; in recent weeks, a group backing the measure, Oregon Right to Die, has said its polling shows that 62 percent of residents would vote against repeal of the measure. Opponents said their survey showed 61 percent agreed that a new vote was needed. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=8305