X-Message-Number: 9959 Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 12:29:30 -0700 From: Arizonans for Death with Dignity <> Subject: Federal anti-PAS bill on fast track ASSOCIATED PRESS (July 1/98; 12:54 PM Eastern) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONGRESSIONAL HEARING SCHEDULED ON ASSISTED SUICIDE WASHINGTON (AP) -- Efforts on Capitol Hill to derail Oregon's assisted suicide law have been put on the fast track, set for a House subcommittee hearing on the first day lawmakers return from the July 4 break. The House Constitution subcommittee has not yet determined who the witnesses will be for the July 14 hearing, but the subject will be a measure that would prohibit the dispensing of a controlled substance to assist in a suicide. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced the bill last month just hours after U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno concluded that federal law did not authorize the Drug Enforcement Administration to penalize doctors who prescribe lethal medication under Oregon's law. A Senate version of the bill was introduced later by Sen. Don Nickles, the Oklahoma Republican who is assistant majority leader. His bill has 22 co-sponsors, including at least one Democrat, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut. A hearing on the Senate bill has not been scheduled. In Salem on Tuesday, representatives of the Oregon Medical Association expressed concerns about the Nickles bill during a forum that Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., held with citizens. Smith, who opposes assisted suicide, said he is concerned that the bill might punish Oregon doctors who have already participated in assisted suicides since the voter-approved law took effect last October. For that reason, Smith is taking a wait-and-see attitude, not supporting the Nickles legislation at this time, said his spokeswoman, Mary Healy. This message sent by Arizonans for Death with Dignity David Brandt-Erichsen, AzDD Website Manager <> or <> http://www.hemlock.org/hemlock/arizona http://www.azstarnet.com/~davidbe/hemlock Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=9959