Washington State's dance with death

I found the text of the ballot initiative that would legalize assisted suicide in Washington State. As far as I can tell, it is modeled closely on Oregon's law. That alone is cause for concern, given Oregon's troubling experience with legalized human destruction over the last 13 years.

A couple of things in particular jump out. Under the definition of "competent" (sec. 1(3)) a patient's competency to make and communicate the decision to end her own life can be assessed by any of the following: a court, an attending or consulting physician, a psychiatrist, or a psychologist. The "or" is all-important. The statute does not require the patient (or, more likely, the patient's son, daughter, or other caregiver) to obtain an evaluation from a mental health professional. Section 6 of the initiative requires an attending or consulting physician to refer the patient to a mental health professional for counseling only if the physician first determines that the patient may be suffering from psychological or psychiatric disorder or depression. Because persons suffering from depression and other mental disorders are so vulnerable to the suggestion that they end their lives, these provisions seem reckless.

I searched in vain for a provision stating "It shall hereinafter be permitted..." or "This statute repeals any and all prohibitions against assisting suicide..." or "The assistance of suicide in the State of Washington, being not a crime or immoral act...". Instead, buried deep in the initiative, section 19 provides immunity from civil and criminal liability to anyone "participating in good faith compliance with this act." This is sly drafting, at least. The proponents of assisted suicide in Washington want the citizens of Washington to legalize the practice without having to express approbation for the practice. Of course, approval of self-destruction is implicit in any law that legalizes the assistance of suicide. Perhaps the proponents of the initiative know that the iniative would fail if voters were forced to think about what a "yes" vote means. For the sake of Washington State's sick and elderly population, I hope Washington's citizens are more thoughtful than the pro-death lobby assumes them to be.