What voters will bring to I-1000

Personal beliefs weigh in on fate of assisted-suicide measure in state

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published September 21, 2008

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When voters receive their mail-in ballots next month, they'll be asked to decide whether assisted suicide should be a legal option for Washington's terminally ill.

Forum Oct. 5

First Christian Church in Olympia plans a forum about Initiative 1000 at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 5, featuring proponent Mary Watson and opponent Russell Jordan. People of all faiths can attend. The church is at 701 Franklin St. S.E. What’s next

The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 4 election is Oct. 4 for voters who have registered before in Washington and Oct. 20 for new voters. Ballots will be mailed Oct. 17. They must be returned and postmarked by Nov. 4.
About Initiative 1000

It would allow terminally ill adults in Washington to receive a prescription for lethal drugs. Two doctors would have to certify that a patient has six months or less to live. The doctors would be required to refer the patient to counseling if the patient was not considered competent to make the decision to end his or her own life.

Opponents argue that there are not enough protections for people whose depression could be lessened before suicide. They say that if a law allowing assisted suicide passes, it should require doctors to consult with the family of the ill person.

But for many, how they vote on Initiative 1000 will be less a question of legality than of morality.

Religious leaders, doctors and ethicists say it's a question that will require them to confront some of their most deeply held beliefs about life and death.

Sister Sharon Park of the Washington State Catholic Conference said it's a decision that has huge ramifications for society. "We have prohibitions on the taking of innocent human life," she said. "Law is not about the individual; law is about balancing the individual and the common good."

If Initiative 1000 is approved in the Nov. 4 election, Washington would become the second state to allow assisted suicide. Oregon is the other.

Park advised voters not to view the initiative as a matter of private choice for the ill — as supporters cast it — but as a referendum on how the state views the dying.

The leadership of the Roman Catholic Church strongly opposes assisted suicide, which it views as contrary to God's will and the sanctity of life. Local parishes have collected money to oppose I-1000, while in France last week, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged people to accept death "at the hour chosen by God."

But Rabbi Seth Goldstein of Temple Beth Hatfiloh, a Jewish congregation in Olympia, said God's will could be interpreted differently by the terminally ill.

"Is pain and suffering God's will? I don't know. I think I might argue with that. I think it comes down to less the issue of quantity than the issue of quality," he said.

Jewish tradition values life and opposes suicide, he said. The faith also recognizes that life is temporary and condones removing life support in some circumstances, he added.

But that's an easier distinction to make than whether someone should be allowed to take a lethal dose of drugs, Goldstien said.

"I think it will be an extremely difficult decision to make," he said of I-1000. "My legal position and my moral position might be different, in that if people want to have that right, in their conscience and values to make that step, then I would be hard-pressed to argue with it. But I might make a different decision."

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