The national organization Death with Dignity describes West Virginia as “under threat” because of an upcoming vote of the public on whether the state constitution should be amended to explicitly prohibit physician-assisted deaths.
That organization characterizes West Virginia’s ballot measure as eliminating a potential option for terminally ill people. Death with Dignity is pushing a campaign called “No on Amendment One” that includes video clips of three people sharing their personal experiences with serious illness to describe the amendment as a threat to freedom.
Rusty Williams, who regularly advocates for issues at the state Capitol, is the chairman of the No on Amendment One campaign. Williams speaks in one of the videos, describing his battle with cancer.
Williams was diagnosed on Mother’s Day of 2012 with late-stage testicular cancer that had spread to his lymphatic system. “I win the award for the all-time worst Mother’s Day gift,” he said in a telephone interview.
Age 33 at the time and given little chance to live, he fought first for coverage for his medical bills and then for his life. His survival and the painful experience set him on a path of patient advocacy.
Williams says that advocacy for patients includes the right to die under the terms they choose.
“I think it’s a humane choice. For folks in terminal situations and are suffering, to me it is absolutely inhumane for a legislative body to come in and say ‘You have to ride it out.’ I think it comes from a lack of understanding what patients go through.”
West Virginia lawmakers, through two-thirds majority votes in the state House of Delegates and Senate, voted earlier this year to place the constitutional question about whether physician assisted death to the citizens. Since then, Williams has been working on what he considers grassroots focus groups to talk to people about the amendment and the surrounding issues.
“Folks don’t want to die in front of their family losing control of their bowel and their bladder functions and in so much pain they can’t speak. I think that’s inhumane. I think it’s state-sanctioned cruelty,” Williams said.
Citing the state motto, he commented, “Mountaineers are always free is so important to me. Enshrining a prohibition on the last free choice you can make is just wild.”
West Virginia ballots will include a constitutional question on prohibiting physician-assisted death
Amendment One, which presents a heavy question about life and death, will be on ballots during this general election cycle in West Virginia. Election Day is Nov. 5, and early voting in West Virginia starts Oct. 23.
The explanation provided on ballots is that “The purpose of this amendment is to protect West Virginians against medically-assisted suicide.”
To vote in favor of the amendment, voters are instructed to darken the oval next to “FOR.” To vote against the amendment, voters are instructed to darken the oval next to “AGAINST.”
HOPPY KERCHEVAL: The lowdown on Amendment One
The amendment would add a section to the state Constitution to say, “No person, physician, or health care provider in the State of West Virginia shall participate in the practice of medically assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of a person.”
Furthermore, “Nothing in this section prohibits the administration or prescription of medication for the purpose of alleviating pain or discomfort while the patient’s condition follows its natural course; nor does anything in this section prohibit the withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment, as requested by the patient or the patient’s decision-maker, in accordance with State law. Further, nothing in this section prevents the State from providing capital punishment.”
ACLU West Virginia is urging a no vote. The organization says medically assisted suicide is not legal in West Virginia. And the organization says constitutions exist to safeguard individual freedoms from government overreach — but this amendment does the exact opposite.
The Catholic church in West Virginia supports a constitutional ban on physician-assisted death.
West Virginians for Life, the state affiliate for the National Right to Life Committee, released a statement urging West Virginians to vote in favor of Amendment One.
The state Republican Party distributed a statement this week, urging people to vote in favor of the amendment.
“West Virginians champion the underdog and defend the vulnerable. We have the chance to uphold these values by voting FOR Amendment 1, affirming our state’s stance against medically-assisted suicide,” stated Matt Herridge, chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party.
“While countries like Canada and states like Oregon condone and promote euthanasia on the elderly, sick, and disabled, West Virginians are committed to protecting life. Our Republican-led legislature placed this issue on the ballot, facing opposition from the Democrats and ACLU. A vote FOR Amendment 1 is a vote against the Left’s anti-life agenda.”
Physician-assisted death is legal in some states
Physician-assisted death is legal in nine states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington — and the District of Columbia. It is an option given to individuals in Montana via court decision. Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted death in 1997.
If the ballot measure passes, West Virginia policy would be diametrically opposed to those states.
Rev. Valerie Lovelace, executive director of Maine Death with Dignity, said on MetroNews’ “Talkline” that the policies in those states are cautiously thought out and provide people with terminal illnesses a humane option.
“When you get down to the bedside, not everybody dies well and not everybody dies comfortably despite the best efforts of palliative medicine and hospice care and some people want this additional option available to them,” Lovelace said.
In Maine, she said, terminally ill people with the ability to make their own healthcare decisions can work through their physician. To qualify for medical aid in dying, people have to have a terminal illness with a six-month prognosis, the capability of making their own healthcare decisions and the physical strength to take their own medicine.
Typically, she said, patients who choose the option would drink a compounded formula from a pharmacy mixed with apple juice or simple syrup. She said patients usually fall into a deep sleep and then their heart stops.
“This has to be a request that’s initiated by the patient themselves in the privacy of a conversation with their physician. So the physician would actually ask them ‘Are you feeling pressure to make this decision?’ They do have to have a terminal illness with a six-month prognosis, meaning that they’re eligible for hospice or they’re approaching a point where they’re pretty much out of treatment options, and they would be talking with their physician about all their end-of-life options,” Lovelace said.
“They have to have the physical ability to take the medication on their own and even up to the point of the bedside they have to maintain the ability to make decisions and the physical strength to take the medication.”
She said some people choose the option as a matter of mercy.
“To be able to die in a way that meets your needs and meets the values you have in your life surrounded by your family, who is ushering you out, is one of the most profound experiences we can have as a human being,” Lovelace said.