Wednesday, January 27, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LETTERS
Continued from page 2
Consider two medical patients, each diagnosed
with terminal illness 4 one cancer and the other
with dementia: Throughout the course of their ill-
nesses, each will suffer pain and discomfort, each
will suffer the indignities of being unable to man-
age their own bodily functions; and, depend-
ing upon their financial situation, each may
drive their families into poverty. Lastly, each of
these individuals have stated a desire to die with
dignity.
The cancer patient9s prognosis has been deter-
mined to be less than six months until death, allow-
ing this individual to take advantage of Oregon9s
death with dignity law. The second patient does
not have an equivalent option. While this dementia
patient also desires the option of death with dignity
to end his life when he chooses, he is prevented
from doing so because, as his disease progresses,
he likely will not have the cognitive capacity to
be fully aware of his condition during the last six
months to verify affirmatively with full knowledge
this right to die. The cancer patient, mostly coher-
ent, can state with authority his wish to die; whereas
the second patient is diagnosed with dementia and
an indeterminate number of months or years to live.
How is this fair?
This sets up an interesting circumstance. The
dementia patient9s prognosis is that he may live
for a year or longer, a future guaranteed to be filled
with the indignities and pain associated with his
diagnosis of dementia 4 Oregon9s death with dig-
nity law is of no help. His only escape from such
a painful and dismal future, not to mention dire
financial impact on his family, is to take his own
life without assistance from the medical community
or others. Because the last stages of dementia can
stretch out for much longer than six months, people
with dementia do not qualify for <death with dig-
nity= laws.
The law excludes patients with dementia and
degenerative brain diseases, since they are deemed
unable to make decisions for themselves at the end
of life. Therefore, patients with advanced dementia
only have one pathway for creating an end of life
plan; the advanced directive. An advanced directive
is a plan of care detailing what an individual would
like the medical care team to do or not do in situa-
tions where death is imminent.
The <Death with Dignity= law does not consider
the suffering and pain that the person with advanced
dementia faces at the end of their life. The law needs
to be modified to include these patients and create
provisions for honoring their wishes to an end of
life that is dignified and meaningful to them and
their families.
Bill Kemp
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To the Editor:
Thank you, Nugget Editor Jim Cornelius, for
once again being a beacon of rational thought in
this wild and crazy time (<The power to shame and
silence,= The Nugget, January 20, page 2).
The current cancel culture makes Joe McCarthy9s
livelihood-destroying, old-school smear and black-
listing tactics seem benign by comparison. Today
mere disagreement is enough to cause one to lose
one9s job. Censoring? Unless this inexorable slide is
checked, Big Tech will not stop at silencing Twitter
accounts: Imagine the day when cell phone num-
bers are selectively disabled because HAL does not
approve of who is talking to whom.
It is beyond chilling to see what is going on in
our society. Americans need to live together with
respect and tolerance despite our often profound
and vigorous political disagreement.
Jane Poss
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To the Editor:
This letter is in response to S. McMillan9s let-
ter of January 20. As the editor noted, the writer
used 2020 statistics that only included 11 months of
data, and then compared them with previous years9
12-month figures. This led the author to the incor-
rect conclusion that Oregon9s death toll in 2020 was
less than 2019.
If you annualize the 2020 data for 11 months you
would find that the estimated annual Oregon death
toll should be approximately 39,313. (It does not
appear that actual 2020 total death data has been
published yet by the state.)
If you go with that logic, that would make the
2020 increase over 2019 equal 1,916 additional
deaths. According to oregonlive.com, 2020 Oregon
COVID deaths were 1,477.
It seems pretty clear from these stats that Oregon
has had more deaths, and that increase can largely
be attributed to COVID-19.
Karen Lord
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s
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To the Editor:
In light of the ensuing violence (continuing still
in Portland), also with multiple crimes committed
(including loss of life), it might help bolster <pub-
lic confidence= that the letters of outrage currently
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To the Editor:
To all who voted for Joe Biden, you must be
proud. We have the cleanest air and water and we
were energy independent. Closing the pipe line not
only destroyed thousands of jobs, but made Canada
angry.
We will have higher taxes, higher gasoline
prices, our groceries will go up, shopping online
will go up. The rich do not care, but it is going to
hurt the average American like you and I. We need
to pray for our country as we are losing our liberties.
Patsy Farr
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being written are not focused solely on acts of vio-
lence connected to the Capitol riot that occurred
January 6, 2021, but rather, address this type of vio-
lence anywhere in our nation.
The nation9s public has been told repeatedly
(almost daily) that the violent protests held in many
cities around the country since summer 2020 were
expressions of free speech. Janet Keen states at the
end of her letter (printed in the January 13, edition),
<I fully respect and defend all lawful expressions
of our First Amendment rights related to freedom
of speech, but the violent mob and the deadly
events that unfolded were unlawful and should be
confronted swiftly and decisively. Law and order
applies to all Americans; no one is above the law.=
I would add that swift and decisive action can
only appropriately occur following thorough and
honest investigation, which cannot possibly have
been completed as of the time her letter was sub-
mitted for print. Law and order should apply to all
Americans, but the inconsistent legal responses to
violent events of 2020 alone remind us that law and
order is not being equally applied.
Sadly, her letter appears to champion what
reads as a proposed witch hunt among our own
local law enforcement officers precisely because
of her expressed horror and outrage (first para-
graph) related to the events at the nation9s
capitol.
If this is Ms. Keen9s first expression of horror
and outrage at violent protests without also con-
demning similar violent protests occurring within
our own state (or other states), then her letter misses
the mark.
Selective outrage about violence does not sway
opinion in a helpful manner. And, most concern-
ing, is that her outrage certainly appears to be inap-
propriately and unnecessarily aimed at local law
enforcement officers who are serving our Central
Oregon communities.
Louise Larson
Calendar
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Deschutes Public Library: Karyn Ann Patridge
Performs Indie-Soul/Folk 5 p.m. Portland-based singer-
songwriter. Go to www.deschuteslibrary.org/calendar/.
Deschutes Public Library: The Library Book Club at
Sisters 5:30 p.m. Discuss “An American Marriage” by Tayari
Jones. Go to www.deschuteslibrary.org/calendar/.
Deschutes Land Trust January Nature Night: A Closer
Look at Microplastics 7 p.m. Dr. Susanne Brander of OSU
will explore the world of microplastics and what we can do
to stem the plastic tide. Free registration required at www.
deschuteslandtrust.org.
League of Women Voters of Deschutes County: First
Thursday Meeting 11:30 a.m. Zoom meeting about issues
relating to life on the Warm Springs Reservation. Meeting info
available at www.lwvdeschutes.org/fi rst-thursday-luncheons.
Deschutes Public Library: Book Challenge 5:30 p.m.
Discover new ways to track your reading fl ow with Community
Librarians, Paige Bentley-Flannery and Rya Fennewald. Go to
www.deschuteslibrary.org/calendar/.
Deschutes Public Library: Habitat Restoration 6 p.m.
Learn about the Upper Deschutes Water Council and their
restoration along Whychus Creek. Registration is required at
www.deschuteslibrary.org/calendar/.
Deschutes Public Library: Beginning Tai Chi 6 p.m.
Beginners’ class with Master JianFeng Chen. Registration is
required at www.deschuteslibrary.org/calendar/.