OLYMPIA – Former Gov. Booth Gardner, who has battled Parkinson’s disease for more than 14 years, says he will promote an assisted suicide initiative for the state in 2008, and predicted voters would follow the lead of neighboring Oregon in approving it.
Washington voters rejected an assisted suicide initiative in 1991, but, “I think it will pass this time,” he said.
Gardner, 69, said he hasn’t yet decided on the scope of the initiative. However, if it follows the outline of the 1991 measure, it would allow a health care provider to prescribe lethal doses of medicine for patients who are in their final months of life with an incurable and irreversible condition.
The 1991 proposal also permitted physicians to administer lethal injections if the person was physically unable to take the prescription. However, it would have required the decision to request assisted suicide to be made while the patient was clear-headed.
Oregon’s law also covers only those with incurable disease and who are of sound mind. At least two doctors must agree that the patient has six months or less to live before he or she can use the law.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Oregon’s law in January, saying the Bush administration had improperly used a federal drug law to pursue doctors who prescribed lethal doses of medication.
Gardner said he’ll run the measure in 2008, believing that a presidential and gubernatorial election year will draw the largest voter turnout and increase the chances of passage. He said polls show 60 percent support among Washington voters for assisted suicide, and he noted that voters in neighboring Oregon have twice supported the issue.
Gov. Chris Gregoire said she thinks it is a proper subject for a statewide vote.
“I know this is a very delicate and difficult issue,” she told reporters, adding that she once argued in the U.S. Supreme Court that states should retain the right to legislate on the issue.
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