X-Message-Number: 9381 Date: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 09:41:20 -0700 From: David Brandt-Erichsen <> Subject: Oregon update MAN WITH HAS A DEADLY NERVE DISORDER AGREES TO ASSISTED-SUICIDE SUIT PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A Newberg man suffering from the progressive and deadly neurological disorder known as Lou Gehrig's disease says he will dedicate his last days to trying to stop physician-assisted suicide in Oregon. Troy Thompson, 36, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, has agreed to serve as a plaintiff in another legal challenge to the assisted-suicide law twice approved by voters. Opponents of assisted suicide are trying to revive a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Eugene to stop doctors from prescribing life-ending medication for terminally ill patients with less than six months to live. Since the law went into effect, at least two people have taken life-ending medication. Marilyn Thompson said her husband's physician, Dr. Miles Edwards, a member of Physicians for Compassionate Care, asked him to join the court action. Troy Thompson, who is almost completely paralyzed, communicates by blinking his eyes as someone points to letters on a spelling chart. His wife said it took him 45 minutes to spell out his philosophy on assisted suicide: "God doesn't make mistakes. We do. He is the author and finisher of our lives." Voters approved assisted suicide in 1994, making Oregon the first state to legalize it. U.S. District Judge Michael R. Hogan ruled the law unconstitutional in 1995, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision last year and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=9381