Some people would rather die than continue to live in pain. After Washington’s elections next November, terminally-ill residents may have that choice if Initiative 1000 is passed. The initiative would permit adults who are medically predicted to die within six months to obtain and administer doctor-prescribed lethal medication.

Whatcom County resident Don Kanutzen, 71, poses for a picture June 28. Kanutzen gathered a state-best 3,002 signatures for I-1000 — at least 400 of which he estimates to have collected on Western's campus. Photo by Zack Hale

The initiative appears to be headed for the ballot after supporters of the bill gathered in Olympia to turn in an estimated 320,000 signatures on June 1. The success of the initiative’s signature-gathering campaign comes in part at the hands of 71-year-old Don Kanutzen, a Whatcom County resident who personally gathered a state-best 3,002 signatures—at least 400 of which he estimates to have collected on Western’s campus.

Kanutzen said the overall response he received at Western was a positive one even though rebuffs of “I’m good” from passersby were common in Red Square, and a number of people declined to sign the petition based on religious beliefs.

Irene Rinn, another Whatcom County resident who gathered 2,600 signatures, also said her experience at Western was a positive one.

“I was really impressed with the number of students registered to vote, and how many people knew what the initiative was and supported it,” Rinn said.

Between volunteers like Kanutzen and Rinn, as well as paid signature gatherers, Kanutzen said it is likely that several thousand signatures were gathered on Western’s campus.

Kanutzen, who voted for a similar bill as an Oregon resident, said the bill strikes a personal chord with him. Years ago he and his family sent his ailing mother, who was suffering from cancer, bed sores and heart disease, back to a nursing home—a decision he regrets to this day.
Kanutzen said she would have rather died than go back to the nursing home, where she later passed away.

“She just wasn’t enjoying life at all, and it was a shame to watch her go through that,” Kanutzen said.

He said he hopes the proposed bill will prevent other families from having to endure similar scenarios.

I-1000, better known as the Death with Dignity initiative, is a bill that mirrors a law passed in Oregon in 1998 and a similar law that was narrowly defeated in Washington in 1991. It would only be the second of its kind in the nation if passed in November.

In Oregon an average of 40 terminally ill people chose to use lethal medication each year, which would translate to roughly 70 people per year in Washington based on population size.  

As is the case with many initiatives, groups have organized to voice both support and dissent for what has become a contentious issue.
Leading the charge against the initiative is the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide (CAAS).

Other opponents of the bill include the Washington state chapter of Not Dead Yet, a disability rights group that fears I-1000 may lead to increased discrimination against disabled persons, and the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), which objects the bill based on professional doctrine.

“We believe physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the role of physicians as healers,” WSMA President Brian P. Wicks said at a press conference on July 2.

CAAS Campaign Coordinator Carrie Herring said the group’s main objections to the initiative stem from what they perceive as a lack of safeguards under the proposed law.

Under I-1000, doctors prescribing lethal doses would be protected from malpractice lawsuits and not subject to peer or state review. There would be no way for the state to investigate abuses.

CAAS is also concerned that I-1000 may provide a legal framework for health maintenance organizations to pressure low-income and minority groups with life-threatening diseases into ending their lives prematurely, said Herring, who cited the case of Oregon resident Barbara Wagner.

Wagner's insurance company denied her coverage for chemotherapy but offered to cover lethal medication instead.

Herring also said doctors would essentially be required to falsify death certificates by citing a person’s diagnosed ailment instead of the lethal dose as the cause of death.

“We’re afraid the potential for abuses is significant due to some major flaws in the initiative, which has led to some serious doubts about public safety,” Herring said.

On the other hand, advocates of I-1000, which include former Washington state Gov. Booth Gardner, who is now suffering from Parkinson’s disease, consider safeguards to be one of the initiative’s greatest strengths.

The bill’s provisions would restrict eligibility to verified, mentally capable adults that are diagnosed with less than six months to live by two separate physicians.

Patients must also voluntarily request the lethal medication in the presence of two witnesses, one of whom cannot be a relative.

There is at least a 15-day waiting period between the initial oral request and a subsequent written one.

Taking lethal medication would not affect the patient’s life insurance policy or payout under the law.

Rinn said she believes I-1000 represents a broader issue that involves personal freedoms.

“I’ve always believed no one should ever be able to say ‘I believe this way so you should too,’” Rinn said.

In addition to Kanutzen's personal reasons he also believes I-1000 falls within the realm of individual choice.

“I don’t care if you support it," Kanutzen said. "Just don’t vote against it.”

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