NARAL, Abortion Advocates Endorse Washington Assisted Suicide Initiative

Bioethics   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 20, 2008   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

NARAL, Abortion Advocates Endorse Washington Assisted Suicide Initiative

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 20
, 2008

Olympia, WA (LifeNews.com) — Leading pro-abortion groups in Washington have taken the somewhat unusual of step of endorsing a ballot measure that would make the state the second to legalize assisted suicide. A leading pro-life advocate says he’s not surprised the pro-abortion movement has linked up with euthanasia advocates.

Calling it an "important" vote to "promote progress in Washington" Planned Parenthood of Washington emailed its supporters a copy of a voting guide it compiled along with other liberal groups in the state.

The names of the groups endorsing a specific candidate or ballot issue are listed, and NARAL is indicated as endorsing the assisted suicide measure.

"Vote Yes on I-1000 if you believe terminally ill people should have a choice about how much pain and suffering they must endure at the end of their lives," the voting guide claims, even though patient pain is routinely treated without advocating their death.

The guide adds: "I-1000 is modeled on a similar law in Oregon, where experts agree the result has been an improvement in care for dying patients."

However, a study earlier this month in the British Medical Journal found one-fourth of the people killed in assisted suicides in Oregon were depressed, yet they received lethal cocktails anyway. Researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University conducted the study and skeptics say it shows the guidelines in the assisted suicide law don’t work.

The voting guide admits not everyone on the liberal side of the political spectrum supports the I-1000 assisted suicide measure, as patient groups, medical groups, Catholic organizations, and disability rights groups are strenuously opposed.

"Initiatives of this type are always challenging, and many progressives could oppose I-1000 for religious reasons," the guide says. It adds that progressives should support the measure because it allows patients to make their own decisions about taking their lives.

Dan Kennedy, the head of Human Life of Washington, told LifeNews.com Monday that he’s not surprised abortion advocates are endorsing assisted suicide. That puts them as thinking both babies and elderly or disabled people are problems.

"It’s no surprise that the abortion lobby endorses imposing death on the defenseless," he said. "As the purveyors of the culture of death, their brutal and predatory view of the vulnerable knows no bounds. They make a mockery of compassion by substituting killing for caring."

Related web sites:
Washington Coalition Against Assisted Suicide – https://www.noassistedsuicide.com
Human Life of Washington – https://www.humanlife.net

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