RSSA decision of life and death: Religious groups lead I-1000 opposition
Yakima Herald-Republic
Rev. Robert Siler begins mass at St. Paul's Cathedral Sunday, October 19, 2008. Siler spoke with the congregation about voting against Washington's I-1000 death with dignity initiative which would give doctors the legal right to prescribe life-ending medications to terminally ill patients with six or less months to live.
E-mail
Print
Comments
More 'Local'
- Economy stalls talk of new Prosser high school
- New gang task force ready to take action
- Walking on thin ice? Freeze!
- Rivers expected to swell with rain, snowmelt
- City sets goals for upcoming state legislative session
- Community helps police catch suspects
- PETA reps demonstrate in downtown Yakima
Most Read
- This feature is under development and will be available soon.
The Rev. Robert Siler used his father's death to illustrate the issue.
Before becoming a priest, he told parishioners during a recent Mass at Yakima's St. Paul Cathedral, he served as his father's caregiver, living with him for two years until he died of pancreatic cancer in 1994.
Watching his father face the end of his life was difficult, Siler said. But, "I saw a lot of the tender mercies of God played out in those three weeks."
When his father died -- at home, with family -- "he just slipped away. To me, that was death with dignity."
Siler, chief of staff of the Catholic Diocese of Yakima, is part of a group of church leaders in the Yakima Valley who are intent on defeating Initiative 1000 in the Nov. 4 election. With ballots already in the hands of voters, the Catholic Church and other churches and religious organizations are urging their members to consider their faith -- and the will of God -- before voting on the measure.
Alarmed by the prospect of a law that would allow the terminally ill to end their own lives -- by their own timing, rather than that of a higher power -- some local religious leaders say this campaign threatens the very core of Christianity.
Assisted suicide "subverts God's plan for us," Siler said. "Human life is to be respected from inception to natural death."
If I-1000 is approved, Washington would become the second state in the country to allow physicians to prescribe lethal doses of medication for terminally ill patients.
On television, the campaign is being played out in ads, with people sharing personal stories about their experience with the terminally ill. Actor Martin Sheen, best known for his television role as President Josiah Bartlet on "The West Wing," has even joined in.
In churches, during Sunday Masses and worship services, priests and ministers provided information sheets and enlisted physicians and individual members to give personal testimonies about the benefits of prolonging life despite the challenges and pain associated with cancer and other illnesses.
I-1000 has, in some ways, spurred the faith community to revive the arguments raised since abortion was made legal under Supreme Court's 1973 landmark decision Roe v. Wade.
"Our basic view is that we respect the dignity of the gift of life and believe God is the author of life and that it remains in his hands," the Rev. Holland Lewis, senior pastor at West Valley Church of the Nazarene, said in a recent interview. He made I-1000 the theme of his Sunday morning sermon.
"We believe man should keep his hands off, except to provide the best kind of care and comfort for the ill and the best possible opportunity for recovery," he said.
The Rev. Rick Harpel, senior pastor of Yakima's West Side Baptist Church, gave a sermon on the issue earlier this month. He talked about it again Sunday morning.
"We have the right and the responsibility and the privilege in this country to be able to change policy and direction by our votes and our free speech," he said in a recent interview.
Passing I-1000 would mean "We are removing God and his authority," Harpel said. "It's very hard to revoke something like this once it gets through."
Some mainstream churches, however, are keeping their distance from an issue that many view as personal and not easily prescribed by religious doctrine.
Back in March, Yakima's First Presbyterian Church was one of the first churches in the Valley to organize a forum on I-1000. Today, it's staying quiet on the ballot measure.
"We feel at this point now, we don't need to take sides," said the Rev. Jim Erixson, an associate pastor for senior adults at the church and one of the forum's organizers. "We did our piece; we did our part."
Now, "We're hands-off," he said. "(Church members) know where we stand. It's better for us to back off."
Mayor Dave Edler, pastor of the Yakima Foursquare Church, one of the largest congregations in Yakima, couldn't be reached for comment.
While ministers from some Christian denominations have thrown their weight against the initiative, the Catholic Church has been the most aggressive.
On Sunday, at Yakima's St. Joseph Catholic Church, an educational video on end-of-life issues was shown during the coffee-and-doughnut fellowship hour following Masses. "No on I-1000" posters hung in the church foyer.
At La Salle High School, the Yakima Valley's only Catholic high school, the entire student body will gather this afternoon for a presentation from Linda Seaman, a Yakima physician who has spoken against the initiative. She'll talk about Catholic teachings on the sanctity of human life and medical care for the terminally ill.
Last Tuesday night at St. Joseph Church, the Rev. Michael Pope discussed I-1000 with the parish's social justice committee, which is made up of clergy and lay members.
"It seems we are now attacking life from the end point, and we already suffer from the attack -- via abortion -- at the beginning, in the womb," said Dan Hogan, a lay member of the committee. "We are demeaning the value of life by choosing when to end it."
During the initiative's signature-gathering phase, the Most Rev. Carlos Sevilla, bishop of the Diocese of Yakima, urged Catholics -- there are nearly 80,000 in the diocese -- not to sign the petition. But backers garnered more than enough signatures -- nearly 320,000 -- to get the proposal on the ballot.
Dubbed the "Death with Dignity" initiative by supporters, the measure parallels an Oregon law that was approved by voters in 1994 and took effect in 1997.
A patient would have to make two oral requests 15 days apart and provide a written request witnessed by two people, including one who is not a relative, heir, attending doctor, or connected with the health facility where the patient lives.
Two doctors would have to agree on the terminal diagnosis, giving the patient six months or less to live, and declare the patient is competent, acting voluntarily and making an informed decision.
When a similar but more broadly written proposal got on the Washington ballot in 1991, the Catholic Church worked vigorously to defeat it. The proposal lost by 54 percent to 46 percent.
This year, the Catholic Church poured in hundreds of thousands of dollars to make sure its message of opposition spread beyond the church pews.
Anne Martens, spokeswoman for the Yes! on I-1000 Committee, said supporters of the initiative knew they'd be up against a powerful opposition.
"We are well aware that the Catholic Church has almost unlimited funds, so knowing that they would oppose this initiative was definitely cause for concern ... ," Martens said.
"I don't think you can ever underestimate the power and influence of faith and church, but again, I-1000 involves a very personal decision, and most Washingtonians don't want any church to make personal decisions for them."
She said the push to give the terminally ill more control over the end of their lives includes "support from all faiths, including the Catholic faith" and that supporters are finding voters putting their personal experiences ahead of church doctrine.
"People who have a personal experience watching a loved one suffer through a difficult death really know that this should be a personal decision, and that they would want to be allowed to make that decision for themselves."
In one television ad, Oregon physician Christina Nicolaidis shares the experience of her mother, who used the assisted-suicide law in Oregon to hasten her death after cancer had spread to her bones and internal organs.
"When she went, it was how she lived her life -- with dignity ... ," Nicolaidis tells viewers, in an ad that's been aired several times over the last few weeks. "As a daughter and a doctor, I can tell you death with dignity is safe. It works."
According to reports filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission, Catholic organizations have given about $800,000 to the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide -- more than half the $1.5 million the total raised by the coalition.
The largest single donation has come from the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization based in New Haven, Conn., which gave $200,000. The national group and its affiliates have also given smaller donations.
The Diocese of Yakima donated $2,000, Yakima's Catholic Charities gave $3,000, and St. Paul Cathedral contributed just over $1,900.
A few weeks ago, the coalition began a $750,000 advertising campaign, featuring Sheen, a Catholic. In one television ad, he calls I-1000 "a dangerous idea that could be imposed on the poor, disabled and most vulnerable in our society."
Despite its deep pockets, opponents are being outmuscled by supporters financially.
The Yes! on I-1000 Committee has raised $4.5 million, three times the amount of the opposition, much of it from right-to-die organizations and wealthy individuals from around the country and overseas. Major donors include former Gov. Booth Gardner, who suffers from Parkinson's disease. He has given more than $450,000.
Other backers include the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and the Compassion and Choices Action Network, a national nonprofit dedicated to improving patients' rights and choices at the end of life.
A recent poll found I-1000 is popular, but support has dropped in recent weeks.
Independent pollster Stuart Elway this month found 55 percent of voters supported I-1000 and 37 percent opposed the measure. Another 8 percent of voters who were surveyed were still undecided. The statewide survey of 405 registered voters was taken Oct. 16-19, and the margin of error was 5 percent.
In September, the same Elway poll put voter support for I-1000 at 57 percent.
With less than a week to go before Election Day, religious opponents are vowing to keep their cause alive, if necessary.
If I-1000 does pass, said Hogan, the parishioner at St. Joseph Church, "then we pray. What happened after Roe v. Wade? We continue to fight."
* For more information, visit www.yeson1000.org and www.noassistedsuicide.com.
Leave a comment on this story!
2 comments so far.
- Advertisement