Burlington Free Press

Letters: Debate continues on end-of-life care

Published: Saturday, June 2, 2007

Give Vermonters control in final days

We owe thanks to those members of the Vermont Legislature who thoroughly considered the issue of patient-directed dying. Representatives on both the House Human Services and the Judiciary Committees studied the issue, heard extensive testimony, and crafted a bill that would bring peace of mind to dying Vermonters who feared facing intolerable suffering in their last days.

Although every poll has revealed that the vast majority of Vermonters want the option of avoiding misery as their life ebbs away, some legislators were swayed by a consortium of groups -- the same ones that wanted to preserve Terri Schiavo's meaningless existence -- who put forth misconceptions, half-truths and groundless speculation.

I believe that when patient-directed dying is reintroduced, many of those legislators, recognizing that they were misled by the Vermont Right to Life Committee and the voices from the pulpit, responding to the Catholic hierarchy, will rethink their position once they learn the facts.

The Vermont proposed legislation, which mirrors the Oregon Act, does not tell anyone -- doctor, institution or terminally ill patient -- what to do. It provides an additional choice beyond palliative care and hospice. We Vermonters respect the right of everyone to act according to one's own conscience, but we strongly object to those who would prevent our acting according to our own beliefs.

Those lawmakers and their legislative leaders who helped bring the proposed legislation forward recognized that its compassionate purpose is consistent with our traditional independence and gives dying Vermonters control in their last days.

DICK WALTERS
Shelburne

Legislators supported progressive tradition

The legislators who supported H.44 (Patient-Directed Dying) voted to give Vermonters the full range of compassionate end-of-life choices in the state's progressive tradition. Patient-directed dying, with benign controls, supplements palliative care and in no way replaces it. The opposition builds on fears, often religiously based, that the Oregon experience shows us can be addressed convincingly. The conversation about this vital public policy will continue, and eventually patient choice of ways of dying will be added to our proud list of basic freedoms.

JOHN HENNESSEY
Burlington

Patient-directed dying supporters unheard

I thank legislators for bringing the patient-directed dying bill to a vote in the Vermont House. I thank representatives who studied the issue and recognized the many merits of such legislation to society. I favor passage because of the aid that such legislation can offer to a terminally ill person who is suffering a lingering, protracted and tormenting death. I do not believe there is redemptive value in suffering. I also favor passage because of the improvements to medical practice the legislation will promote as it has in Oregon.

Why was the legislation defeated in Vermont? I quote from Associated Press reporter Kathy Barks Hoffman (Free Press, May 27) who has researched the national scene including Vermont, "only one state has a physician-assisted suicide law -- Oregon. Experts say that is because abortion opponents, Catholic leaders, advocates for the disabled and often doctors have fought the efforts of other states to follow the lead of Oregon, where the law took effect in 1997."

Next time the issue comes to a vote in the Vermont Legislature the 82 percent of Vermonters who favor the legislation will have to be more vociferous than the 14 percent minority (Zogby International, 2007) of zealots who oppose it.

BOB ULLRICH
Charlotte

Constituents ignored on death with dignity

I feel that the Legislature has missed an opportunity to respond to the wishes of its constituents. Vermonters have indicated through polls that a substantially larger than majority favor death-with-dignity legislation, which would follow the guidelines and protections used in Oregon. This state has well-documented proof of success for the past nine years since death with dignity was instigated. We Vermonters have spoken. Where is the response?

ANN W. WEATHERS
Shelburne

Patient-directed dying should be reconsidered

I am writing in response to your call to "Rate the Legislature" and am concerned about issues revolving around end-of-life care. As I watched my beloved father die a wrenching death more than a dozen years ago, I swore I would try to make a difference so others would not have to go through what our family endured. I have been involved in local hospice initiatives for many years but sometimes this is not enough.

In addition to hospice and good palliative care, we need patient-directed dying legislation to give us the full range of compassionate end-of-life choices. When this bill was introduced in the last session, the Vermont Legislative Council studied the Oregon law (upon which the Vermont bill is based) and concluded that it operates without abuse and in all likelihood enhances care at the end of life. Oregon physicians report that since the act was passed they've made efforts to improve their knowledge of the use of pain medications, to improve their recognition of psychiatric disorders such as depression, and to refer patients more frequently to hospice.

Since my own recent bout with cancer, this issue has become even more relevant. Should suffering become intolerable, knowing this option is available will ease Vermonters' fear and bring peace of mind. I sincerely hope the next time patient-directed dying legislation comes to the legislature, it will pass.

ALICE Z. BERNINGHAUSEN
Cornwall

Thanks for supporting patient-directed dying

The Vermont Legislature deserves our thanks for having the courage to delve into the important end-of-life issue of patient-directed dying. Special thanks go to those legislators who championed the issue.

Although the Patient Choice and Control at the End of Life Act did not win final approval, the legislative process worked. Two committees took detailed testimony and crafted a bill that would have served Vermonters well. The debate in the House of Representatives was a good example of civil discourse: passions remained level, points of view were respected, and speeches were thoughtful.

However, all this belied the concerted efforts by opposing groups including the Right-to-Life Committee of the Catholic Diocese to use the pulpit to activate parishioners to place a volume of calls which gave some lawmakers a disproportionate sample of the level of support among their constituents.

Yet despite this opposition, the clear majority of Vermonters who want this option will keep working. As Vermonters, we have a long tradition of respecting each other's ability to make up our own minds and not imposing our views on them. The Patient Choice and Control at the End of Life Act does just that for the most personal of decisions; it gives each of us the space to choose for ourselves.

DAVID BABBOTT, M.D.
Burlington

End-of-life legislation deserves reconsideration

I would just like to say that I am very disappointed that the Legislature failed to pass the patient-directed dying bill, which is so important to se- niors like me. I just celebrated my 80th birthday with all my children. I am lucky to be reasonably well at the moment, but am very apprehensive that the instructions I have given my children regarding illness and death may be frustrated by the lack of this law in Vermont. I do hope the legislators will reconsider next year. I certainly will never vote for anyone who voted against this important legislation.

BEVERLY JACOBSON
South Burlington

True believers are problem

With regard to the death with dignity act, a majority in the House ignored the wishes of Vermonters and submitted to religious ideology. Congratulations to the minority.

True believers are a problem. True believers of one stripe got us into the Iraq war. True believers of another stripe have pushed their will on a majority and denied the rest of Vermonters choices that remediate the heavy hand of government in the realm of terminal illness. How many more Terri Schiavo cases are we going to have with legislators diagnosing from the legislative hall?

I expect that in two years the true believer problem will be better understood.

FREDERICK CHASE JR.
Stowe

Published May 30, 2007

Assisted-suicide law improved care

It is unfortunate that a last minute effort of misled individuals swayed our Legislature to discount the wishes of the vast majority of Vermonters concerning the death with dignity bill. Nine years of experience with the Oregon law has shown there to be much better attention to the needs of patients pain care and no abuse of the law's provisions.

JEAN ROOK
Burlington

End-of-life legislation needed in Vermont

A person in my apartment complex ended her life the way Liz Jeffords did -- by not eating or drinking -- a hard way. This with no physician help because the legislation was not passed. I am old enough to be nearing my own death and I would like the kind of help Oregon provides to its residents. It has worked there for nine years, testimony of its worth and need. We need this kind of help in Vermont. I hope we get it before it's my turn that when physical problems remove any enhancement to life, that I can end my life with legal professional help.

LEA WOOD
Montpelier

Published June 6, 2007

Study Oregon death with dignity law

Once again I write to express how very important it is for me and those that I love to have the choice of avoiding suffering if that time is faced. It would give me great peace of mind to know that the option of patient-directed dying is in place for the citizens of Vermont. The legislation made great progress this past year, but unfortunately was not passed in the House because of much negative publicity. No one is telling others what choices to make, only that each individual have the choices available to the citizens of Oregon who were able to put it to a vote to the entire state population. We should be given that same opportunity in the state of Vermont since the nine-year Oregon experience proves the myths untrue. I continue to ask all Vermonters to really study the Oregon law and allow individuals the right to make their own choices.

PATTY LEVI
Burlington

Published June 7, 2007

Patient-directed dying derailed by opposition

As a recent retired physician living in Plymouth, I was encouraged to see that Vermont had patient-directed dying legislation pending on this year's agenda. Through phone calls and editorials, I supported this initiative based on my experiences with dying patients during my 20-plus years of general internal medicine practice in Connecticut.

I would like to thank the legislators who had the courage to vote for this issue, since it was supported by many Vermonters. Facts support the concept. I was disappointed with the legislators who allowed themselves to be misled by the opposition who used non-factual arguments.

RUSSELL J. TONKIN, M.D.
Plymouth