LIFE NEWS/ Wesley Smith-
When selling the legalization of assisted suicide, activists always promise that strict guidelines will protect against abuse.
After legalization, these protections are rebranded as “obstacles” or “barriers” that prevent patients from getting what they want. As soon as activists think they can get away with it, the law is loosened.
That process is unfolding in Washington State, where a new bill would let non-doctors be part of the assisted suicide bureaucratic process. From HB 1141 (my emphasis):
“Attending ((physician)) qualified medical provider” means the physician, physician assistant . . . or advanced registered nurse practitioner who has primary responsibility for the care of the patient and treatment of the patient’s terminal disease . . .
If the attending medical provider is an M.D., nurse practitioners and physician assistants can also be the second opinion “consulting” medical professional, who can even be employed by the attending physician. If the attending provider is not an M.D., the second opinion would have to be an M.D. Continue reading…
