An 89-year-old woman who suffered a debilitating stroke is being denied life-sustaining food and water by her family and doctors — a court said it was okay because Doris Smith signed a living will. The daughter of the woman argues, however, that her mother never intended to be starved to death when she signed the legal document before her stroke.
Nurses at the nursing home stopped administering food and water to Mrs. Smith last week, following the instruction of two other children, despite the efforts of attorney Jack Wright. The Louisiana Supreme Court refused to hear Smith's daughter, Oris Pettis's, appeal. “We're at the end,” Wright told the Associated Press.
“Most people have no idea that when it states in a Living Will/Power of Attorney that no further medical treatment will be provided in certain circumstances that it means they will also be denied food and fluids,” according to Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. “The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is called regularly by people who have no intention of granting their doctor or family members the right to dehydrate and starve them to death and yet have a Living Will/Power of Attorney document that would do just that.”
Pettis argued in three courts that her mother was not aware that waiving her right to “life-sustaining procedures” included the denial of food and water. The document signed by Smith is nearly identical to a standard state form used by thousands of Louisianans. In a list of definitions, not located directly on the living will form, but separately, is included the denial of food and water as part of the forfeiture of life-sustaining procedures.
“To intentionally kill someone by dehydration and starvation is euthanasia,” Schadenberg said. “This differs from removing fluids and food from someone who is nearing death and who's body is shutting down, that act is normal protocol.”
“The dehydration and starvation of Doris Smith is a wake-up call,” Schadenberg continued. “The message is that everyone needs a Power of Attorney document that protects them. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition distributes the Life-Protecting Power of Attorney for Personal Care. It is a legal document that will protect you from being dehydrated or starved to death and allow you to die a natural dignified death.”
See also:
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
Courts Allow Family to Withhold Water, Food from Woman
Oregon Assisted Suicide Headed for Supreme Court
PORTLAND — Assisted suicide in the state of Oregon may be put on trial this month if U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft files an appeal with the Supreme Court. In a ruling announced August 16, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a U.S. Justice Department request for a new hearing after the court's May decision to uphold the Oregon doctor-assisted suicide law.
State records say that doctors have helped 171 people commit suicide since the Death with Dignity Act was introduced six years ago. A recently published study contains some alarming statistics. Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University interviewed 1,384 family members who had lost a family member between June 2000 and March 2002, and found that 17 percent of dying patients had talked to their family members about assisted suicide. Only 2 percent of dying patients formally request assisted suicide, and about 1 in 1,000 follows through by consuming a lethal dose.
The study also found that the patients most likely to request assisted suicide are cancer sufferers and tend to be young, white and not particularly religious. The study contradicts earlier survey attempts, which said the tendency to request assisted suicide was higher among the more educated; education actually has little to do with assisted suicide.
The study also throws light on whether or not legalizing assisted suicide actually limits its use. Some argue that actual cases of physician assisted suicide are more frequent in other states, because Oregon's suicide law puts physicians under more scrutiny. The study makes it clear, however, that options are more on people's minds when they are legal options.
“We had no idea prior to our study how many Oregonians personally considered the option,” said Dr. Susan Tolle, the study's lead author.
See also:
1 in 5 Dying Oregonians Mulls Suicide Option
Dept of Justice Appeals Oregon Assisted Suicide Ruling
(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
