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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (March 23, 2019)
SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 2019 | 9A Get Results...List With Mike. Mike Blankenship Broker 541 991-7826 10818 Hwy 36 – Large com- mercial building on two city lots at the junction of Hwy 36 and 126 in Mapleton, a high traffi c area. Metal building with high open beam ceiling, 3 phase power on one meter. Check with Lane County for zoning uses. Property is being sold “as is”. $65,000. #2802-18047518 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 Buying or Selling? I can help. Price Reduced DIGNITY from page 1A doesn’t work, this is im- possible to do, so we want to change the wording so people that are unable to move have a way to do this,” Yelle said. “We also want to change the definition of ‘self-administered’ to in- clude other delivery meth- ods than just taking the medication orally.” Yelle has been given a ter- minal diagnosis by physi- cians. However, the precise timeline for his demise is unclear, which makes pre- paring to initiate the proto- cols for ending his life diffi- cult. Yelle is nearly blind and has Parkinson’s Disease. He has also been diagnosed with diabetes, suffers from mem- Aileen Sapp Broker 541 999-5396 Vinca Alley #2101 – Beautiful Siuslaw River views from this in-town lot with city services at the property line. The corners are marked, come take a look for yourself and imagine sipping coffee on the deck of your dream home! $77,000. #2927- 19542617 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 See Jim for your auto sales needs! 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 OREGON COAST Fri.-Sat. 3/29-3/30 9am-4pm Spruce Point 375 9th Street Outside unless rain, then moved inside. All proceeds go to Vietnam, The Wall that Heals ESTATE SALE 3/22-23, 9AM-3PM 2226 Primrose Liquidating contents of beautiful home chock full of lovely and useful things. Upscale, better brand furniture, antiques, decor and accessories, books, offi ce supplies, gourmet kitchen utensils, king and full beds, outdoor furniture, many one-of-a-kind treasures from a lifetime of extensive travel. Garage is packed and shelving will be available. This is a fabulous sale! All sales are fi nal. Local delivery available. Credit cards accepted. Directions: Spruce to 12th, left on Upas, right on 13th, left on Primrose. House is at end of street. Do not park in cul-de-sac. Photos at CindyWobbeEstates.com. STORM ory loss and has serious cir- culatory issues. These med- ical problems impact Yelle every day and the severity of the symptoms associated with these conditions will only increase as time passes. Unfortunately, there is no way to know how or when these symptoms will become so difficult that Yelle will wish to avail himself of the option provided by DWDA to end his own life. The prospect of a lin- gering slide towards senil- ity and loss of control over bodily functions loom large as he considers his ultimate demise. “I do not want to live if I am senile or if I can’t live with dignity and I have to be taken care of 24/7,” Yelle said. “I don’t want to have to suffer the humiliation of being toileted and fed and cleaned up after, and I want to decide when my life has gotten to the point where I want it to end. The way the current law is written would not let me decide that.” Yelle’s medical prognosis holds no promise of im- provement, as all options for recovery or diminishment of his symptoms have been explored and rejected as ineffective. His uncertainty about the rate of the decline of his faculties prevents him from utilizing the protocols currently in place to assure he has the ability to decide to die before becoming com- pletely incapacitated. The law that allows le- gal, supervised ingestion of medication to slowly stop an individual’s heart from beating is specific and con- nected to the timing asso- ciated with the expectation of death. There must be a diagnosis that gives a patient six months or less to live in order to be eligible to receive the medication necessary to end one’s life. Yelle’s prognosis is a slow decline into senility, and there is no way of knowing when he will have only six months to live. He wants to be able to put his desires regarding the timing of his death in place before he is unable to think or commu- nicate to others his desire to end his life. However, Yelle’s situation is not unique. After receiv- ing calls and letters from others with similar situa- tions, he started a non-profit advocacy group called “End Choices.” Since then, he has accepted a number of speak- ing engagements and given informational presentations to seniors and their caregiv- ers to help with confusion surrounding Death with Dignity issues. His non-profit has re- ceived financial support of thousands of dollars and dozens have joined in his efforts to modify the current wording in the act. Yelle’s testimony in Salem 2019 Rhododendron Festival Court Introducing P ayton Halverson BE READY Expo READY was just one presentation that was heard by the Health Care Committee, but his was the only voice raised in support of the bill, Yelle re- ported. There were a number of religiously affiliated organi- zations that spoke in opposi- tion to the bill, primarily to oppose any legislation that reinforces Oregon’s DWDA. “I was the only person representing senior citizens and disabled that spoke. In fact, I was the only disabled person that spoke. Most of the other speakers were from national organizations with lots of money at stake. The big three were there, of course, the Catholic Church, Right to Die and Compas- sionate Choices,” Yelle said. “They spoke ahead of me and none of the people that spoke against the bill were disabled or seemed to care that this will help people that are dying and are trying to do so with dignity. I think they just don’t care because there is a lot of money to be made keeping people alive, even when they don’t want to continue living.” Yelle made the trip to Salem in the hope that he would be able to convince legislators to support HB 2217, but he realizes that is unlikely, considering the public relations battle he is fighting with relatively little money compared to his op- ponents. “I knew this would be hard, I just never thought so many people would oppose something that will help so many people. I guess that’s what happens when peo- ple care more about money than other people,” Yelle said. DWDA allows terminally ill Oregon residents to ob- tain and use prescriptions from their physicians for self-administered, lethal medications. Under the Act, ending one’s life in ac- cordance with the law does not constitute suicide. The DWDA specifically pro- hibits euthanasia, where a physician or other person directly administers a med- ication to end another’s life. For more information, visit Oregon Health Author- ity online. Visit us on the web Sponsored by: Saturday, March 30, 2019 T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM FLORENCE EVENTS CENTER S IUSLAW N EWS FREE ADMISSION Follow us on LIVE DEMOS, VENDORS, PRIZES! Coronation: Wednesday, May 15th, 6:30 pm DOORS OPEN AT 10AM FlorenceEvents Center 541-997-1994 Tickets $13 Adults, $9 Students eventcenter.org Twitter @S IUSLAW N EWS EMERGENCY SUTURING CLASS to be held at the Florence Events Center during the FREE HOT DOG LUNCH SPONSORED BY KIWANIS OF FLORENCE PRESENTED BY: Be Ready – Storm Ready Preparedness Expo March 30, 2019! Please call the Siuslaw News at 541-902-3526 to sign up. You may pay by credit or debit card. There are two classes being offered. Positions in the class are on a fi rst paid for, fi rst reserved basis and classes are limited to the fi rst 25 paying participants in each class. So don’t delay, sign up for a place now! Sponsored by: The class is at 11:00 AM AND 2:00 PM Saturday, March 30, 2019 Cost is only $25.00 per participant! Sponsored by: Taught by: IDENTIFY • PREPARE • SURVIVE Siuslaw News
