opinion
Ensuring Death with Dignity
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future now”
B ernie F oSter
Founder/Publisher
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t ed B ankS
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Page 4 The Portland Skanner
A
rmond
and
Dorothy
Rudolph — 92 and 90
years of age, respectively
— didn’t set out to make national
news; but their story should serve
as a clarion call for overhauling
the conflicting, ambiguous and
sometimes cruel regulations cur-
rently governing end-of-life deci-
sions in this country.
Armond suffered from spinal
stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal
column that causes acute pain and
numbness in the limbs. Dorothy
was almost completely physically
immobilized. Both had developed
early-stage dementia.
In August, after consulting with
family and friends, the Rudolphs
decided to hasten their deaths by
refusing food and water. Three
days into their fast, they relayed
their decision to administrators of
their assisted living facility in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Although their decision was clear-
ly within their legal rights, facility
officials responded to the couple’s
intentions by summarily evicting
the ninety-year-olds from their
apartment — the very next morn-
ing. The Rudolphs resisted. So
administrators called the police to
have the couple forcibly transport-
ed to a nearby hospital.
The Rudolphs had no legal
recourse to keep their apartment.
Fortunately, with the help of their
children, they were able to quickly
relocate to a private residence.
Assisted by hospice workers, they
continued their fast. A week later,
husband and wife — married 69
years — died within 24 hours of
each other, surrounded by family.
There are thousands of
Americans like Armond and
Dorothy, burdened with painful,
irreversible conditions and consid-
ering whether to hasten death.
This population isn’t “suicidal.”
They do not have an irrational
desire to destroy themselves. They
F inal e Xit n etwork
Wendell Stephenson
have already enjoyed full, long
lives, blessed with love and happi-
ness, and they know their time is
at an end. They see a dignified
death as the natural and appropri-
ate ending to a well lived life,
when life as they knew it is no
longer possible.
it a felony for an outside group
even to talk with people about
end-of-life options that include
self-deliverance.
These restrictive regulations are
morally wrong and they don’t
square with public opinion. Polls
show that roughly 70 percent of
American adults — and about 60
percent of the elderly — think the
terminally or irreversibly ill
should have the right to end their
own lives.
They see a dignified death as the
natural and appropriate ending to a
well lived life, when life as they knew it
is no longer possible
Instead of treating people like
the Rudolphs with compassion
and support, however, authorities
believe that they are in a better
position to make life decisions for
these mentally competent adults.
In fact, just three states —
Currently, except for the three
states mentioned above “voluntar-
ily stopping eating and drinking”
(VSED) is often the only legal,
humane option patients have.
Done right, VSED can bring a
safe and peaceful end; however,
Thousands of Americans like Armond
and Dorothy are burdened with
painful, irreversible conditions and
considering whether to hasten death
Montana,
Oregon,
and
Washington — currently allow
physician-assisted suicide. Some
states are actually actively crack-
ing down on organizations that
provide support to people like the
Rudolphs, who choose to hasten
death. Notably, Georgia has made
the process is relatively lengthy,
between one and two weeks on
average. To manage any pain,
patients require sustained pallia-
tive care, which is often difficult
and expensive to arrange — 25%
of individuals who choose this
route have difficult and painful
deaths. It is often devastating for
their loved ones to watch individ-
uals deny themselves food and
drink for two weeks, even when
those individuals have made a
conscious choice to do so.
Americans facing end-of-life
choices deserve other options.
Inexpensive, safe, and pain-free
alternatives exist. Yet, just months
ago, the FBI, Customs and other
heavily armed law-enforcement
agencies staged a dawn raid on the
home of a 91 year old woman to
stop her from making helium
hoods (one such painless alterna-
tive) in this country. Sharlotte
Hydorn, of El Cajon, California
was the only source for such heli-
um hoods in the United States. The
agents held handguns to her face
in order to ensure “officer safety”
as they “seized” her sewing
machine. Ironically, guns are the
method of choice in the vast
majority of suicides, and yet
increasingly, laws and court deci-
sions are making firearms more
readily available.
It is time for the nation to recog-
nize the inconsistencies in our
approach and the needless suffer-
ing to which many people are
being condemned. People who
make the decision for self-deliver-
ance after much soul searching,
consultations with medical staff
and discussions with family and
friends, deserve a dignified death
free of pain and with loved ones at
their side during the process. As
we move into the second decade of
the 21st century, it is certainly
time for the legal views on suicide
and the rights of individuals to
reflect the views a majority of our
citizens have held since the mid
20th century.
wendell Stephenson is the presi-
dent of the Final exit network.
the website for the network is
www.finalexitnetwork.org.
Banks Increase Predatory Payday lending
E
ach year, street corner pay-
day loans strip consumers
of $4.5 billion. Now, at
least four large banks joining the
ranks of those offering one of the
most predatory products sold to
unsuspecting consumers. Banks
like Wells Fargo, US, Regions and
Fifth Third are all offering their
checking account customers pay-
day loans that typically require
full repayment within 10 days
with interest rates of 360 percent
or higher.
Due to federal bank regulation,
these payday loans, sometimes
called ‘advance deposit loans’,
circumvent state rate cap laws in
17 states and the District of
Columbia. Further, as banks repay
these loans from funds already on
deposit in checking accounts, bor-
rowers run the risk of running
short of money for other living
expenses as well as incurring
overdraft fees. Under fee-based
overdraft systems, transactions
made when available funds are
insufficient will result in an aver-
age fee of $35 per transaction.
For banks, the ability to take
funds automatically to repay loans
means is a winning proposition.
december 14, 2011
r eSPonSiBle l endinG
Charlene Crowell
But for consumers, every loan
renewal means another fee and a
longer stretch of high-cost debt.
And some banks have practices
that lead to account closure when
low or modest balances result in
frequent overdrafts.
Fortunately, there are African-
wealth from entire communities.”
Rev. Dr. Frederick Haynes, sen-
ior pastor of Friendship West
Baptist Church in Dallas has also
spoken against payday lending.
“Storefront payday lenders are
more common than fast food
restaurants – especially in my
church’s neighborhood” said
Pastor Haynes. “There are 20 pay-
day loan stores within a five-mile
radius on my church. As a pastor
Black leaders speak out against short-
term, triple digit interest rates
American leaders who are stand-
ing up and speaking out on the ills
of payday and bank payday loans.
According to Julian Bond, for-
mer NAACP Chairman, “A drive
through minority neighborhoods
clearly indicates that people of
color regardless of income are a
target for legalized extortion.
Payday lending is an economic
drain that threatens the livelihoods
of hardworking families and strips
and community activist, I have
personally seen how quick cash
payday loans wind up placing bor-
rowers in financial debt shack-
les.”
Speaking directly to the ills of
bank payday loans, Dr. Haynes
added, “This practice of lending is
especially troubling when one
considers that banks, according to
the Federal Reserve, are able to
receive loans with interest rates of
less than one percent.”
Dr. Haynes’ observation is one
worth expanding. Courtesy of the
federal government, banks get
loan rates near zero percent inter-
est. These banks then loan funds to
payday lenders at competitive
market rates. Then these lenders
offer consumers interest rates of
360 percent or more. When banks
enter the payday loan market, they
eliminate the middle lender and
reap all the profits for the institu-
tion with the same triple-digit
rates charged consumers.
Legal? Not by some state con-
sumer protections; but unfortu-
nately, we need strong federal
action to stop this abusive and
level the lending field for all con-
sumers.
There’s nothing wrong with a
business making an honest profit.
But there’s something seriously
wrong with price-gouging interest
rates for customers needing a
small-dollar loan.
Charlene Crowell is a communi-
cations manager with the Center
for responsible lending. She can
be reached at: Charlene.crow-
ell@responsiblelending.org.