By Kathleen Gilbert
OLYMPIA, Washington, October 17, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – As Washington’s battle over euthanasia “rights” closes in on election day, anti-euthanasia groups are fighting to maintain their grasp on a thin margin of voters while fearing that dried-up revenues may cause all to be lost in the final hour.
Recent polls have shown that a slim majority of voters now reject Initiative 1000, which would classify assisted suicide as a legitimate medical procedure.
Advertisements against the ballot measure, particularly one featuring Martin Sheen, have resonated with voters, and have widely publicized the dangerous pitfalls of such legislation. In the ad Sheen observes that legalized suicide would not require doctors to discriminate whether a candidate is suffering from depression. Also, the ballot measure would not require notification of family before or after a physician assisted lethal injection, and the free use of lethal drugs would provide an incentive for health plans to cut costs by steering terminally ill people toward assisted suicide as the cheapest option. (To view and listen to the ads, to go: https://www.noassistedsuicide.com/)
Eileen Geller of the Washington Coalition Against Assisted Suicide told LifeSiteNews.com today that due to lack of funds, their highly successful “No on I-1000” ad campaign may just fall short of the publicity they need.
“We are fighting a lobby that has poured money into Washington State from every single state in this country,” said Geller. She said that there has always been a disparity in funds between the opponents and the advocates of I-1000, with the latter having out-fundraised the former as much as 20 to 1 over the course of the campaign.
“We are at a financial disadvantage,” Geller said.
She issued a “desperate plea” for concerned citizens across the country to help the struggling campaign. (To donate, visit: https://ssl22.pair.com/stshore/contribute_suicide.html)
“Contributions right now will literally make the difference between life and death,” she said.
Geller and other pro-life advocates fear that passage of the bill will result in a domino effect, encouraging other euthanasia activists nationwide. For example, euthanasia activists in Oregon, the first state to legalize euthanasia in 1997, pledged to give $1 million to the Washington campaign.
“We can literally stop assisted suicide from metastasizing from the tumor that is Oregon to the rest of the country,” said Geller.
Geller warned that, even though most pro-life advocates have not heard of Washington’s struggle against euthanasia, “for the ‘right to die’ organizations this is the most important issue in the last 14 years.”
To learn more about the “No on I-1000” campaign, go to: https://www.noassistedsuicide.com
To contact the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide:
P.O. Box 11794,
Olympia Washington, USA
98508,
Phone (206) 337-2091
To contribute via the web: https://ssl22.pair.com/stshore/contribute_suicide.html
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Martin Sheen Stars in Ad Opposing Assisted Suicide in Washington State
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08093007.html
Oregon Euthanasia Activists Empty Coffers to Pass Washington State Assisted Suicide Bill
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/sep/08092411.html
Washington I-1000 Initiative Most Important Vote in Nov. Election Cycle Says Anti-Euthanasia Leader
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08081908.html