T he P ortland O bserver • O ctober 19, 1994
P age A9
political viewpoint
by
t
D ouglas H ammkkstrom
This November, Oregon vot
ers will be asked to cast their vote on
Ballot Measure 16, the “Oregon
Death with Dignity A ct”. If passed,
it would make ours the first govern
ment in the world to legalize physi
cian-assisted suicide. This legisla
tion has been consistently defeated
in state legislatures across the coun
try and has likewise been defeated
by voters in the state of California
and Washington as ballot initiatives.
In those two states these measure
enjoyed large, early leads in the
polls, only to go down to defeat
once voters had been made aware of
how great the risks of these acts are
in comparison to their benefits.
There are several obvious ad
vantages to the concept of assisting
those in the terminal stages of dis
ease to kill themselves. These in
clude decreased length of physical
suffering, decreased demand, on
family finances and allowing re
sources to be used for those who are
expected to have a longer lifespan.
These are not trivial arguments.
However, the arguments against al
lowing doctors to assist people in
killing them selves far outweigh
these benefits.
First, is the huge gap between
the deadly certainty of suicide and
the great uncertainty of medical di
agnosis. That is, doctors make mis
takes and do so frequently Even a
competent and compassionate phy
sician can easily err when trying to
predict life expectancy. This is to
say nothing of one who is sloppy or
would be just as happy to get an old,
cantankerous patient out of their
hair. Physicians will also make mis
takes in assisting suicide. The pro
fession of medicine does not de
serve and is not to be trusted with
such power to do harm.
Second, is that elderly people
and those in late stages of disease
are very psychologically vulnerable
and easily exploited to achieve other
W H O W IL L BE THE NEXT MISS B LA C K OREGON, USA?
p eo p le’s end. W ith passage of
Proposition you can expect to see
many elders manipulated into de
siring suicide so that relatives can
get into their bank accounts faster.
Third, is the fact that euthana
sia is not necessary. The desire for
suicide is almost always linked to
depression, lone I i ness or i nadeq uate
pain control. It is strange to see
euthanasia becoming such as issue
just as recent advances have given
almost certain relief from pain and
depression. At the same time legal
progress lias produced advance di
rectives and living wills that can
empower everyone to have control
over their health care, thus prevent
ing the possibility of unwanted, ag
gressive medical therapy.
Fourth, is the damage that will
be caused to the patient-physician
relationship. Since the tim e of
Hippocrates it has been understood
that the physician is the patient’s
advocate. If doctors become killers
again who will know if the doctor
comes to heal or to kill.
Fifth, is the great concern of
where crossing the ethical line of
assisting suicide will lead us. It is no
secret that the proponents of this
type of initiative do not want to stop
here. Their ultimate desire is for
physician-administered lethal injec
tion not only for those who desire to
die, but also for those who deserve
to die (like handicapped children,
the mentally ill and retarded and
other vulnerable people who use up
tax resources rather than pay them).
The illusion of personal choice
that this initiative gives is not worth
the risks that have been demon
strated twice this century, in mod
ern Holland and Germany in the
1940’s, when killing is officially
condoned by the government. This
initiative deserves to go to the same
place it was sent by California and
W ashington voters... defeat.
Knight, Tanya Thomas, Natasha Ross, Donita Lincoln.
WITNESS THE CROWNING OF
y i/)i6 6 Otfcccb O r e g o n
Saturday, November 19th • 1021 NE Grand, Top of the Holiday Inn - Grand Ballroom
7:00 p.m. Doors Open • 7:30 p.m. Showtime
Special Appearance by :
Sean Strong & NW African American Ballet
Tickets On Sale Now!
T icketm a ster O utlets - cash - check - charge by phone
$16.00 Donation
G.i.jae*
TJCJCL
Douglas Hammerstrom, MD
Enterprise, Oregon
Lull R an ge o f O regon w ¡ lie s
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7pm till l i p
Entertainment 11 g
T h e K ir k G r e e n B a n d
Lundraiser for the
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Inp o| iin I loini.tg Inn - 1021 NL Grand 7:30pn» luLellii.is,n 97 , I. >0
TICkKfSONSALLNOVV
Catlin Rummage Sale Marks 50th Year
This year’s Catlin Gabel
Rummage Sale will be as good as
gold. The school's 50th annual
rummage sale opens at the Mult
nomah County Expo Center N o
vember 3 and continues through
November 6.
H undreds o f v o lu n teers, in
clu d in g all 6 70 stu d e n ts o f the
sc h o o l, are busy c o lle c tin g ,
so rtin g , tra n sp o rtin g , and p ric
ing g oods for this tra d itio n a l
event.
A sp e c ia l O p e n in g Day
S ale-w ith all item s m arked up
25 % -tak es place on T h u rsd ay ,
N ov. 3, 5pm -9pm . C o n tin u in g
d ates and tim es arc: F rid ay ,
»
N ov. 4, 10 am -9pm ; S a tu rd a y ,
N ov. 5, 10am -6pm ; S unday, N ov
6, 10-am -3pm . By S unday, the
fam o u s “bag sa le s” becom e an
in c re d ib le b arg ain -- e sp e c ia lly
for c lo th e s and books.
M arilyn C ooper, the s c h o o l's
rum m age C h air says, “ I t ’s like
p u ttin g on a c irc u s !” To give you
som e id ea o f the lo g istic s, the
loot fills som e 25 se m i-tru c k s
an d is u n lo a d e d in to 6 0 ,0 0 0
squ are feet o f space. "Im ag in e an
av erag e o f o v er 8,000 sho p p ers
ru m m a g in g th ro u g h a n tiq u e s ,
c o lle c tib le s , b o o k s, h a rd w a re ,
furn itu re, standard rum m age fare,
cars and tre a su re s. O n c e 'a horse
Ticket Centers at G.l. JOE’S, BLAZERS ON BROADWAY, MEMORIAL COLISEUM, PIONEER PLACE, PORTLAND OREGON VISITORS
ASSOCIATION, PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY, CIVIC STADIUM, PORTLAND CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS U of 0
AUTZEN STADIUM, and OSU GILL COLISEUM, or CHARGE-BY-PHONE (503) 224-4400
TICKETS SUBJECT TO AGENCY CONVENIENCE CHARGE
are coredial I y invited to a W in e lasti •MJ
>.'■ .....
S c h o la r llu ,p p a g e a n t
w as bro u g h t in for sale, a n o th
e r tim e it w as a beer tru c k !”
All p ro c e e d s go to fin a n
cial aid for stu d e n ts w ho m ight
not o th e rw ise be able to attend
the school. A bout 23% o f all
stu d e n ts w ho m ight not o th e r
w ise be a b le to a tte n d the
school. A bout 23% o f all stu
den ts rec e iv e fin a n c ia l aid.
The C a tlin Q abel S chool
is an in d e p e n d e n t, co -ed u ca-
tional day sch o o l for stu d e n ts
from p re -sc h o o l th ro u g h 12th
grade. Its facu lty and sta ff are
d e d ic a te d to in d iv id u a lity , a c
a d em ics. and life -lo n g le a rn
ing.
Child Immunization
Campaign Launched
A ccording to the A m erican
Academy of Pediatrics and the Na
tional Association o f County Health
Officials, as many as 40 percent of
children under the age of four go
unprotected against life-threatening,
yet preventable childhood diseases,
because they are not properly immu
nized.
To help improve vaccine rates,
participating M cD onald's Restau
rants are joining forces with local
health officials to launch an immuni
zation edu catio n c am p aig n for
O ctober’s Child Health Month.
"Immunize for Healthy Lives”
aims to break down barriers to child
hood vaccinations by using educa
tion materials and local community
activities to talk to parents about the
importance of preventative health
care for children through timely im
munizations.
"M cD onald’s is pleased to sup
port this immunization program be
cause it reaches families in our com
munity with an important health mes
sage.” said W C. Gilbert, a Portland
area M cDonald’s owner and opera
tor. "By helping parents get their
children vaccinated on time and en-
Dr. Robert A. Mendelson (left), Oregon representative for the
American Academy of Pediatrics, Laurie Monnes-Anderson, of the
National Association of County Health Officials and W C. Gilbert of
Portland and a McDonald's owner/operator, kick off a campaign to
immunize children for healthy lives.
couraging regular doctor visits, the
program has the potential to save
lives and helpchildrenliveahealthier
childhood.”
T hroughout O cto b er, p a rtic i-
p atin g M c D o n a ld ’s re sta u ra n ts
w ill carry a se rie s o f ed u c a tio n a l
m a te ria ls on im m u n iz a tio n s for
p a r e n ts f e a tu r in g th e r e c o m
m ended v accin e sch ed u le.
Fair Set For Expo Center
Parents will find great educa
tional.opportunities at The Family
Fair, October 21-23 at the Portland
Expo Center.
S tate Farm In su ra n c e w ill
feature a b icy cle safety train in g
course fo rc h ild re n . C h ildren will
have the fun o f rid in g bicy cles
w hile learning the im p o rtan ce o f
w earing a helm et and obeying
tra ffic and safety rules.
O M SI has an in te ra c tiv e d is
play o f hands-on science a c tiv i
ties. paren ts and c h ild re n alik e
can enjoy this area.
M any e x h ib ito rs p rovide par
ents with educational services, such
as: HOME QUEST features educa
tional curriculum on CD -RO M ;
F U T U R E K ID S
COM PUTER
LEARNING CENTER provides ser
vices in teaching computer mastery
to kids from 3-16 years of age; and an
EASY MATHexhibit issclfcxpl^na-
tory.
TH E G R E A T A M E R IC A N
PETTING ZOO will invite children
to see and touch domestic and exotic
animals. Great fun for parents as
well.
The Fair features parent support
groups, such as, PARENTS SUP
PORTING PARENTS. This is a
support group for parents, friends &
family of premature and/or critically
ill babies and those with unresolved
issues who have older children. "
ALLSTATE INSURANCE will
be finger printing children for their
parentsto keep on file T hisisag reat
service provided at no cost to parents
at the Fair.
In fact.all o f the above is “free”
with the cost o f admission to THE
FAMILY FAIR
THE FAMILY FAIR also has
many other exciting activities for the
entire family including:
»
A G IA N T IN D O O R C A R
N IV A L w ith rid e s for little and
big kids. E ach paid a d m issio n on
a child gets one free carn iv al ride.
D iscount ride tic k e t c o u p o n s are
a v a ila b le at S A T U R N O F B E A
V E R T O N . C o u p o n s are good fo r
all the rid e s you can ride fo r
$10.00.
“S C H E M E R " o f the te le v i
sion pro g ram "S H IN IN G T IM E
S T A T IO N " w ill be at the F a ir on
S unday. O c to b e r 23 to m eet c h il
dren and sign a u to g ra p h s.
PONY R ID E S are a v a ila b le
at $ 2 ,0 0 per rid e. P ic tu re s o f y o u r
c h ild on a pony are a v a ila b le at
an a d d itio n a l c h a rg e .
T he K -103 P u m p k in d e c o
ra tin g contest w ill be held O c to
ber 22. 1 0 :0 0 a m -6 :0 0 p m .
K U PL w ill be g iv in g aw ay a
trip for a fa m ily o f fo u r to the
O reg o n C o a st w ith lo d g in g
t