medicine

Last week's debate/forum at West Seattle High School clearly showed that I-1000 (Physician Assisted Suicide) will open the door to dangerous medical practices which will have far reaching implications and should solidly be defeated.

Both Dr. Sharon Quick, a pediatric anesthesiologist/critical care physician, and Pastor Paul Smith, senior pastor of Westside Presbyterian church, made compelling arguments supported with cases from Oregon (the only state where physician assisted suicide is legal) showing abuses, lack of safeguards, and corporate greed.

One such case, was Oregon resident Barbara Wagner, whose lung cancer had been in remission when she learned the disease had returned and would likely kill her. Her last hope was a $4,000-a-month drug that her doctor had prescribed for her, but which the insurance company refused to pay. What the Oregon Health Plan did agree to cover, however, were drugs for a physician-assisted death. Those drugs would cost about $50.

You can see where this is going. Dr. Quick also pointed out that the Hippocratic oath, which is believed to have been written by Hippocrates, the father of medicine in the 4th century B.C., wrote it because physicians were killing or healing their patients dependent upon who would pay them the most money. For this reason, Hippocrates came up with this oath by which physicians would pledge never to harm or kill their patients, thus developing a strong bond of trust between patient and physician.

Not only does I-1000 go against the Hippocratic oath, it also breaks down the bond of patient/physician trust. I have personally experienced in the deaths of both my father and father-in-law that adequate safeguards and laws are already in place so that a patient does not have to be kept alive beyond their natural death process. As it says in the book of Ecclesiastes, "there is a time to die." As far as pain during the death process, medical science has plenty of weapons in their arsenal to effectively deal with pain.

From a biblical perspective, God is the initiator and terminator of life. He knows the number of our days. A terminal illness can be a great blessing as a person comes face to face with the single most important question in life, which is, where will I spend eternity? As one person has said, "The death rate is one per person and we will all make it."

It is during these times, that many receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and receive from God the gift of eternal life. They then have the comfort of knowing that when they take their last breath on earth, it will be their first breath in heaven. Jesus said, "Whoever believes in me, will not perish, but have everlasting life."

I-1000 is a bad initiative and should be defeated.

Pastor Randy Leskovar

Calvary Chapel West Seattle