Senate Bill 579 eliminates physician-assisted suicide waiting periods for those diagnosed as near death. The Oregon House passed the bill 35-22 yesterday. It will now become law unless the governor vetoes it.<\/a><\/p>\n Oregon Bill SB 0579<\/a> which enables a physician to wave the 15 waiting period states:<\/p>\n Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, if the qualified patient\u2019s attending physician has medically confirmed that the qualified patient will, within reasonable medical judgment, die before the expiration of at least one of the waiting periods described in subsection (1) of this section, the prescription for medication under ORS 127.800 to 127.897 may be written at any time following the later of the qualified patient\u2019s written request or second oral request under ORS 127.840.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cThe Legislature heard from highly qualified and experienced medical professionals who testified that this bill is not only unnecessary but dangerous,\u201d says Lois Anderson, Oregon RTL executive director. \u201cThey voted largely down party lines to fulfill the ominous agenda of a handful of their colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n The journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, in a November 2005 article, printed that survival predictions were made, as part of a study, for 468 patients in hospice programs. Only 20 percent of the predictions were accurate.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it is incredibly hard for physicians to accurately prognosticate someone\u2019s life expectancy,\u201d says Anderson, \u201cIt is not incredibly hard for a person in a position of influence to bully a sick person into obtaining lethal drugs. Eliminating the waiting period will make this even easier.\u201d<\/p>\n By waving the 15 day waiting period, a person who is approved for assisted suicide could die by assisted suicide without an opportunity, if depressed, to change their mind.<\/p>\n The assisted suicide lobby argues that assisted suicide laws have not expanded in Oregon, therefore there is no fear of expansion in other jurisdictions. Previous to this bill, Oregon had expanded assisted suicide by re-interpreting the meaning of terminal illness<\/a>. In January 2018, Fabian Stahle proved that the Oregon Health Authority re-interpreted the meaning of terminal illness<\/a>. Now Oregon has expanded the language of the legislation.<\/p>\n\n