CALIFORNIA: PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE ON THE AGENDA
Following Oregon voters' decision this week to keep theirThis is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
state's Death with Dignity Act, "a trio of California legislators
held a hearing [Wednesday] to begin considering" whether to enact
a similar law, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports. Although
California voters "narrowly defeated a ballot measure in 1992
that sought to legalize assisted dying," Assemblywoman Carole
Migden (D) said "political and social climates have changed since
then" (Hunt, 11/6). The hearing was called by Migden and
Assemblyman George Runner (R) and Assemblywoman Helen Thomas (D)
"under the auspices of the newly formed Assembly Select Committee
on Palliative Care" (Chao, San Francisco Examiner, 11/6).
A NEW SLATE
"This is the beginning of, I hope, a very thoughtful and
deliberative process," said Migden. According to the AP/Contra
Costa Times, the next hearing on the issue is scheduled for
November 17 in Los Angeles. Migden and others named the
principal questions to be addressed at that time: "Who is
considered terminally ill?" and "Where is the fine line between
passive euthanasia, in which a patient is allowed to die, and
deliberate action to hasten death?" (11/6). Migden "said the
likely outcome of the hearings would be a bill addressing
problems many terminally ill patients face, such as better access
to hospice care and pain management."
DEBATE
According to the San Francisco Examiner, the San Francisco
Medical Society is "officially neutral" on the issue of assisted
suicide. But Steven Heilig, the society's director, "said a
survey 10 years ago showed that at least half of its members
supported changes in the law to give them more leeway in
prescribing medication under certain circumstances." The
California Nurses Association, however, officially opposes
assisted suicide, based on concerns "that insurance companies and
for-profit hospitals have an economic disincentive to provide
long-term care to terminally ill patients." CNA President Kit
Costello said, "Long-term care of dying people becomes very
unprofitable." Another concern voiced by Heilig is the fact that
patients who are not "guaranteed access to health care ... may
feel driven to end their life sooner because they don't have
access to optimal care" (11/6).