By Dave Andrusko
Left to right. Jennifer Popik, Alex Schadenberg, Lois Anderson, and Wayne Cockfield
The breakout session “Assisted Suicide: It’s worse than you ever imagine” had a distinctly international flavor, reflecting the relentless “Right to Die” movement.
Lois Anderson, executive director of Oregon Right to Life, reported on the “left coast” action. The way “Compassion & Choices”—formerly known as the Hemlock Society—manipulates language presents a formidable challenge to pro-lifers as they make abuse inevitable. Anderson pointed out how only 12% of the doctors who prescribe the lethal cocktail follow on with their “patients.”
Alex Schadenberg, a Canadian, is the Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, a man who travels the globe to lecture on euthanasia and assisted suicide. He explained that because so few physicians will participate in “assisting” a suicide, it is crucial for pro-assisted suicide forces to make it possible for physician assistants and nurses eligible to play a role.
Typically, Schadenberg said, proponents will work to pass a relatively “modest” law. But those are “trojan horses”: once the right is established, all safeguards are thrown out.
Jennifer Popik, JD, directs the Robert Powell Center for Medical Ethics and explained the actions taken at the federal level.