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| Rhode Island Capitol |
The chief opponent of legalizing the practice of medication-assisted death in Rhode Isand was not a Rhode Islander, but a lawyer from Washington state named Margaret Dore who runs an organization called Choice is an Illusion.
“Don’t make our mistake,“ Dore told the committee, referring to Washington’s Death with Dignity Act.
She argued that the six-month prognosis is subjective, and patients sometimes live beyond doctors’ expectations. She also said the bill could have unintended consequences, telling a hypothetical story of a son who encourages his terminal father to request the medication “just in case,“ and then persuades or forces him into taking the drug at home.
“Dad dies, and the death certificate will reflect a terminal disease as the cause of death and the son will inherit,“ she said.
