I-1000 is a Poorly Drafted Initiative, Which Permits
Coercion of Vulnerable and Disabled Persons,
Creates Immunities and Lacks Safeguards.
This Proposed Legislation Is Not a Good Solution –
Please Read the Fine Print.
There Are Many Serious Problems With This Proposal as Drafted.
We are Washington attorneys who oppose I-1000 because it lacks critically necessary safeguards against coercion and abuse of disabled, elderly and vulnerable persons, and protects potentially egregious conduct. Basic protections against abuse do not exist in this measure. The proposed law is fundamentally flawed in protecting individual freedom of choice because:
- The written request for the lethal drug may be witnessed by a person with a financial interest in the patient's estate (Secs. 3 & 22);
- If the patient is in a long-term care facility, one of the witnesses to the written request for the lethal drug shall be an individual designated by the facility (Secs. 3 & 22 ), and the other witness may be an interested heir (Secs. 3 & 22).
- There is no requirement that the death be witnessed and therefore no guarantee that the patient voluntarily took his life or whether someone other than the patient took his life for him. See entire text of I-1000 (no witness required at the death).
- The Act contains a defined term, "self-administer," which is not in the Oregon Act and which is so broad that it allows someone other than the patient to administer the lethal drug (Sec. 1 (12));
- When completing the death certificate the attending physician is required to falsify it by listing the underlying disease as the cause of death, rather than listing the actual cause of death (for example, drug overdose, suicide, a euphemism for suicide, etc. (Sec. 4 (2));
- The purported "good faith" standard set forth in the proposal gives broad immunity from liability and civil accountability for negligence.
- Depressed patients are not adequately protected. I-1000 does not require assessment or treatment for depression. [I-1000, Section 6]. Because the waiting period is only 15 days, a suicidal "cry for help" could be met with a bottle of lethal drugs, instead of encouragement and treatment.
- A person may not protect against foreseeable abuse by opting out of the law (Sec. 16).
- There is a serious potential for abuse. If I-1000 is passed, insurance companies in Washington will have incentives to steer patients to "choose" voluntary suicide. For every patient who "chooses" the suicide option, the insurer saves money. I-1000 is a cost cutter's dream. See: Rita Marker, Oregon's Suicidal Approach to Health Care, American Thinker, September 14, 2008 at
The measure leaves disabled, vulnerable and senior citizens particularly at risk of coercive actions or worse by their heirs or others.
Here is a link to Initiative 1000 as filed with the Secretary of State: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/initiatives/text/i1000.pdf.
We urge you to reject this measure and to vote "No" on I-1000.
