Not Dead Yet, Press Release

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DISABILITY ACTIVISTS BLAST LATEST OREGON "SPIN"

Not Dead Yet, which leads the opposition to suicide and euthanasia among the 12 national disability rights groups that share that position, blasted the latest report on the assisted suicide experiment in Oregon.

The Associated Press, reporting on a study by Linda Ganzini, boldly exclaims that "control" is the driving force behind requests for lethal prescriptions in Oregon. The study involved a survey of nurses and social workers working in hospice.

Neither Ganzini nor any of the pro-euthanasia representatives quoted in the AP article pointed out that this latest example of "junk science" contradicts the findings the annual reports on the Oregon act issued by Oregon Public Health Services.

According to the fourth annual report on assisted suicides, the main reasons given for assisted suicide differ sharply from those listed in the current survey on hospice nurses and social workers. Physician survey replies led the Oregon report to state "the three most commonly mentioned end-of-life concerns during 2001 were: loss of autonomy, a decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable, and losing control of bodily functions."

What this means is that no one really knows what is going on in Oregon. That applies both to the exact number of people committing suicide under the act and their motivations for doing so.

"It's time that Oregon health officials admit that they really don't know what the hell is going on in Oregon," says Stephen Drake, research analyst for Not Dead Yet. "All the data so far is a simple reporting of the subjective opinions of health professionals directly involved in facilitating the suicides of individuals in Oregon. This is essentially "junk science" and it's a poor basis for claiming that the Oregon suicide law is "working well."