Margaret Dore Testimony against New Hampshire assisted suicide bill.

Margaret Dore

Dear Legislators:

I am an attorney in Washington State where assisted suicide is legal. I am also a Democrat. I urge you to not make Washington's mistake.

I have three points:

1. HB 1325 is the same bill as HB 304 in the 2009 session, which was defeated in a 2 to 1 bipartisan vote. 

• HB 1325 is exactly the same bill as HB 304 in the 2009 session. The only exception is the proposed effective date.
• In 2009, when HB 304 was defeated, the Democrats controlled the House. 

• The vote to defeat HB 304 was 2 to 1 in a bipartisan vote: 242 to 113. 100 Democrats and 142 Republicans voted to defeat the bill.

2. HB 1325 is a recipe for abuse and exploitation
With HB 1325 being the same bill as HB 304, I provided the House Judiciary Committee with my prior memo about HB 304. A copy can be viewed at this link:

Key points include:

• "Financial reasons [are] an all too common motivation for killing someone."
• Your heir, who will financially benefit from your death, is allowed to act as a witness on the lethal dose request form. See 137-L:4 (allowing one of two witnesses to be an heir)
• There is a complete lack of oversight once the lethal dose is issued by the pharmacy. Not even a witness is required. Even if you struggled, who would know?

3. HB 1325 encourages non-dying people to throw away their lives.

HB 1325 applies to people who are predicted to die in six month. Such predictions are not always correct. Some non-dying people are thus encouraged to throw away their lives.

See e.g., Nina Shapiro, "Terminal Uncertainty," Washington's new "Death with Dignity" law allows doctors to help people commit suicide - once they've determined that the patient has only six months to live. But what if they're wrong? The Seattle Weekly, January 14, 2009.

Margaret Dore
Law Offices of Margaret K. Dore, P.S
Seattle Washington