X-Message-Number: 8721
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 10:55:56 -0700
From: David Brandt-Erichsen <>
Subject: More on Oregon

Abridged from the PORTLAND OREGONIAN
(Weds Nov 5/97; page one)'

SUICIDE LAW STANDS

Voters reject Measure 51,
which would have repealed doctor-assisted suicide

Gail Kinsey Hill of The Oregonian staff

Oregon voters Tuesday strongly reaffirmed
their support of doctor-assisted suicide on
the same day the state attorney general's
office said the original law is now in
effect.

The vote and the legal interpretation mean a
person who is mentally competent and
diagnosed as having less than six months to
live could request a lethal prescription from
a doctor today, wait the required 15 days,
then take the drugs.

David Schuman,*cq. Oregon's deputy attorney
general, determined Tuesday afternoon that
the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals more
than a week ago had lifted an injunction
keeping Measure 16 from going into effect.

Although the law is in effect, Lee said she
did not expect a terminally ill patient to
request a lethal prescription immediately.

"To think that people are waiting with bated
breath to take advantage of this is a
sensationalist way of looking at this," Lee
said. "This is a very personal and private
thing. This is not something people know
about. It's just not a public event."

A second legal challenge is expected, but
assisted-suicide opponents were not
discussing specifics Tuesday night.

James Bopp, the lawyer for plaintiffs in the
lawsuit and an attorney for National Right to
Life, said he might file another lawsuit on
behalf of "a son or daughter who has a mother
or father who is terminally ill, depressed
and suicidal."

Bopp also refiled his original lawsuit
Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Eugene.
That is where U.S. District Judge Michael
Hogan, who granted the injunction, presides.

In addition to the courts, attention focuses
on the Oregon medical field, which will be
responsible for implementing the
doctor-assisted suicide law. Also, the
Legislature might hold a special session to
refine the law.

Dr. Katrina Hedburg, deputy state
epidemiologist, said the Oregon Health
Division is ready to file emergency rules
this week that were written after the 1994
election, including tracking prescriptions
and whether they are used.

The Oregon Board of Medical Examiners will
oversee physician compliance with the law.
Patients or families with concerns can
contact the board, executive director
Kathleen Haley said.

A 25-member task force of hospital and health
plan leaders, medical organizations and
ethics experts, formed after the 1994
election, probably will field some of the
most difficult questions.

The Legislature could meet to refine the law,
but a special session would be necessary to
gather before the regular session convenes in
January 1999.

"We've had some very preliminary discussions"
about a special session, said Senate
President Brady Adams, R-Grants Pass. But "it
would not be to overturn what voters
intended. It would be to implement (the law)
in a way they decided through the ballot
box."

Gov. John Kitzhaber might agree to a special
session if the Republican-controlled House
and Senate developed a plan with majority
support, a spokesman for Kitzhaber said.

Kitzhaber, a Democrat, opposed repeal. But he
has said some of the law's provisions need
clarification. For example, residency
requirements should be more tightly defined,
and more guidelines should be developed for
determinations of mental competence, he said.

Some lawmakers who led the push for the
repeal referral said changes would be
difficult.

"It's hard overturning the will of the
people," said Sen. Marylin Shannon, R-Brooks.

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