Press Release
True Compassion Advocates
Offering life affirming care, hope, & support
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 5, 2009
SUBJECT: True Compassion Advocates protested the implementation of assisted suicide today at the University of Washington Medical Center.
Close to a hundred and fifty demonstrators gathered in front of the University of Washington Medical Center from noon to 1:00 p.m. today to protest the hospital's decision to prescribe and dispense intentionally lethal drug overdoses to vulnerable patients. Holding signs reading "I want to go to a hospital I can trust with my life," "People with life-limiting illnesses need compassionate care not life-ending drugs" and "I used to be a patient at the UW: no longer," protestors signified their support for Washingtonians made at risk by the implementation of the so-called Death with Dignity Act today.
"This is a sorrowful day for Washington State and for all those who advocate truly compassionate end of life care. We need health care coverage for everyone with terminal diseases, not an incentive for people without coverage to end their lives. We need hospitals with adequate pain control programs, not hospitals with programs to assist in terminating patient's lives. We need hospitals with programs to diagnose and treat patients' depression, not programs that eliminate depression by eliminating the patients. Beginning this week, True Compassion Advocates across the state will be raising awareness about the dangers of assisted suicide and the plight of vulnerable patients by demonstrating in front of select hospitals and nursing homes," said Eileen Geller, a hospice nurse and spokesperson for the new group.
The president of Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation Washington, Dr. Shane Macaulay stated, "Physician-assisted suicide is deplored by the vast majority of physicians, from the AMA to the Washington State Medical Association, as ethically unacceptable and a danger to patients. Yet the University of Washington Medical Center has decided to reject 2,300 years of medical tradition and allow its physicians to help end the lives of the very patients who have chosen to receive medical care at UWMC."
For information on today's protest or on True Compassion Advocates' opposition to washington's assisted suicide law and advocacy of at risk populations, contact Eileen Geller RN, AT 206-366-2715. Eileen@truecompassionadvocates.org
For information on physician-based opposition to health care facilities and personnel assisting in suicides, contact Dr. William Toffler 503-810-3024, Dr. Charles Bentz 503-323-5038 of Physicians for Compassionate Care.