skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Concerns about Supreme Court Nominee's Views on End-of-Life Choices

play audio
Play

Wednesday, February 8, 2017   

COLUMBUS, Ohio. – Advocates for end-of-life choices are concerned about President Trump's pick for Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch. Medical aid in dying is an option for terminally ill patients at the end of their lives in six states, and similar legislation could be debated in Ohio this year. In 2006, Gorsuch argued against the practice in his book, "The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia."

Founder and executive director of Ohio End of Life Options, Lisa Vigil Schattinger, notes it's the same year Oregon's right-to-die law, the first in the country, survived a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.

"Since 2006, other states have adopted laws based on Oregon's model," she said. "So, while it's absolutely a concern about Gorsuch, we feel it could be defended again with a fight."

In Ohio, state Senator Charleta Tavares of Columbus has discussed introducing 'death with dignity' legislation as early as this year.

Gorsuch argues in his book that assisted suicide could open the doors to considering some lives less "valuable" than others.

Kevin Díaz, the national director of legal advocacy with the group Compassion and Choices, explains assisted suicide and euthanasia are far different from medical aid-in-dying laws.

"Medical aid in dying is when a medical professional, a physician, prescribes a life-ending medication to give to a person who is an adult, who is terminally ill, which means six months or less to live, and who will then self-ingest the medication, if and when suffering becomes too great," he explained.

Díaz explains assisted suicide is a term used when people who are not of sound mind are convinced to kill themselves.

Schattinger was with her stepfather in Oregon when he died with the assistance of the Death with Dignity Act in 2014. She says he passed away in peace, a choice she believes should be discussed as an option for the terminally ill in Ohio.

"We feel that it's important to talk to every part of the community - medical societies, political communities - just to raise awareness and bring about a really respectful discussion of a topic that we understand can be very controversial," she added.

Polls are showing growing support for a person's right to die with dignity. A Gallup poll from last year found nearly seven in ten people agreed a terminally ill patient should legally have the right to end his or her life, if requested.

This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded by the George Gund Foundation.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021