Will the Schiavo Legislation influence "Death with Dignity"??

[Blue Belle]

I was wondering if this thing with Schiavo would play into the recent Supreme Court proceedings in the Bush Administrations efforts to repeal the "Death with Dignity" act.

Oregon lawmakers oppose Schiavo legislation
The state's delegates see Congress' decision as a potential threat to Oregon's Death With Dignity law
Monday, March 21, 2005
JIM BARNETT

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/111140257332440.xml

<snip> The measure does not directly address the Oregon law that allows physician-assisted suicide. But Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and others said before it was passed that it would set a dangerous precedent for Oregon's law.

"They have been very, very clear -- the administration and Congress -- that they want to overturn our Death With Dignity law for exactly the same reasons," Blumenauer said Sunday.

Republican leaders said they wanted to pass a bill that would let federal courts overrule Florida courts in the Schiavo case. But Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., and others served notice that they would object to the move after most members had left for spring recess. That forced leaders to call members back to Washington on Sunday.

Wu had planned to leave Washington on Saturday but stayed after receiving notice of the Schiavo bill, an aide said. Wu took to the House floor Sunday night to argue that Congress should not interfere in matters best left to families and local authorities.

"The Republican leadership has transformed a profound tragedy for the Schiavo family into a tragedy for the entire nation," Wu said.

<snip> In the end, the legislation included language specifying that Congress' intervention in the Schiavo case would not be held as a precedent in other cases in which a patient is near death but cannot express his or her intentions.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. YES... that is part of it

[bloom]

2. I was thinking about that angle as well.

The Republicans say how horrible it would be to die a prolonged death. I was thinking how death penalty "victims" die a more humane death - with a simple injection. Yet people are not allowed to choose to do that. At least most places. It seems very odd.

I can see how Republicans and others could be worried that if the gov't were in charge of the decision - like the Texas case that B**h signed in '99 that said hospitals could decide against the wishes of the family/patient to "pull the plug" - that maybe people would worry a sick gov't might be killing people right and left out of convenience.

And yet people are not allowed to make the decision for themselves. To die more peaceably than they might otherwise.

[Blue Belle]

3. The thing that bugs me is...

The Florida State Courts have ruled on this case... but Bush and the Republican Congress are doing everything they can to usurp that authority. It seems very clear to me that the right of the States to govern themselves is very fleeting.

Oregon has twice voted in the “Death with Dignity/ Assisted Suicide” act, and the Faith-based Bush Administration has zeroed in on it as a “moral Issue”. The Supreme Court will be hearing this case soon, and though Congress has made statements that their actions in the Scaivo case will not interfere with future cases, Congressman Blumenauer has noted that "said terms contained in the Schiavo bill are sufficiently vague that they could threaten individuals' "advance directives" and ultimately could lead Congress to interfere in areas of law traditionally left to states."

Ron Wyden is currently championing the "Death with Dignity" fight, but we need to make more noise about it. If the Supreme Court can overturn this issue, then what about the other pieces of progressive Oregon Legislature that the Bush Administration has a problem with? He’s already fighting California on their Medical Marijuana bill… will ours be next?? How about our mail-in ballot voting system… is that next on the chopping block?? It’s time for the public to realize that the Republicans talk a good game about “keeping government off your back”, but they are doing everything they can to keep us under its thumb.

For more info on the Death with Dignity fight, check out this link: http://www.deathwithdignity.org/fss/news/or.03.14.05.asp

[sandnsea]

4. hospitals can't decide for us

I'll take making my own decision over letting the hospital decide any day of the week. We really need to be throwing that back in their face every time they talk about this culture of life stuff.

[0rganism]

5. Wyden was one of three senators singled out by Delay last week

You betcha, now we're getting to the heart of the power grab. The republicans are now perceived as "overreaching" because they are flexing the political muscle they've acquired nationwide over the last 10 years. We need to stop smirking about their foibles and understand that they're in the process of testing their limits. All told, we haven't had this kind of single-party dominance at the federal level since Lyndon Johnson's presidency, at the birth of his Great Society movement. Things are moving very fast now in a very different direction.

[Blue Belle]

6. I heard that... Delay named Wyden, with Boxer and....

someone else. He's tagged them for retribution. Delay is such a scary little weasle.

I can totally see them spinning this into a play for more conservative judge appointees (as if the ones that ruled against lettering Schaivo live weren't Republican enough for them), and for overturning "death with Dignity" among other morally charged state ruled issues.