Thursday, March 6, 2014

Live Free or Die! New Hampshire Obliterates Oregon-Style Death with Dignity Act!

Today, the New Hampshire House of Representatives defeated HB 1325. The bill had sought to enact an Oregon-style death with dignity act in New Hampshire. The bipartisan vote was an overwhelming 219 to 66.

To view a short testimony against the bill, click here.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Dore Testimony Against HB 1325

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.  To verify, please see this link:  http://choiceisanillusion.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/nh_hb_304_vote_breakdown_001.pdf

Saturday, May 28, 2011

New Hampshire Defeats Assisted Suicide, Again

By Margaret Dore

On March 16, 2011, the New Hampshire House of Representatives defeated an Oregon-style physician-assisted suicide bill.  The bill, HB 513, was defeated on the House floor 234 to 99.  The bill had previously been defeated in the House Judiciary Committee 15 to 1The majority committee report gives these reasons for the defeat: 
[T]his bill would legalize state-sanctioned suicide for people with terminal illnesses and that this is an area where government does not belong.  People with terminal illnesses who may consider suicide do not need encouragement from the government.  The committee further believes that this bill is a recipe for elder abuse.  The committee also recognizes that doctors’ diagnoses and predictions may be incorrect; numerous cases exist where people have lived far beyond their doctor’s predictions, some of them having been cured from their terminal disease.  For these reasons, the committee strongly believes that this bill represents bad policy and practice and recommend inexpedient to legislate.
House Journal, Vol. 33, No. 28 (scroll down to HB 513) .