Assisted suicide laws can lead to murder

I am the President of Montanans Against Assisted Suicide. Thank you for your Associated Press article about our lawsuit against the Board of Medical Examiners. We are awaiting the results of the court hearing.

Meanwhile, I would like to alert your readers to our upcoming event "Assisted-Suicide: Whose Choice?" The title refers to the reality of legalization in which the choice of whether someone dies can be determined by someone other than the patient.

Consider this observation by Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, who will be our keynote speaker. He states: A 2009 report by MetLife Mature Market Institute describes elder financial abuse as a crime "growing in intensity." The perpetrators are often family members, some of whom feel themselves "entitled" to the elder's assets. The report states that they start out with small crimes, such as stealing jewelry and blank checks, before moving on to larger items or coercing elders to sign over the deeds to their homes, change their wills or liquidate their assets.

The report also states that victims "may even be murdered" by perpetrators. With assisted-suicide laws in Washington and Oregon, perpetrators can instead take a "legal" route, by getting an elder to sign a lethal dose request. Once the prescription is filled, there is no supervision over administration ... even if a patient struggled, "who would know?" Our event will be Saturday, June 29, at the Great Falls Hilton Garden Inn.

For more information, go to http://www.montanansagainstassistedsuicide.org or call 406-531-0937.

Bradley Williams

Hamilton