Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/587166
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Imagine looking in a mirror and seeing the target of the euthanasia movement. This is exactly why people with disabilities justifiably fear California Governor Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown signing into law the Physician Assisted Suicide bill. Imaginea47-year-olddi- vorced mother of a 13-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter who chooses death over tin- nitus, a ringing in the ears. Imagine 650 babies (not fe- tuses, babies) put to death be- cause living with disabilities would make their lives diffi- cult. It's real, not imagination. The Netherlands has taken the lead in physician-assisted suicide, allowing death for people who feel they or their children are not leading fulfill- ing lives. "The Royal Dutch Medical Association estimates that 650 newborns are killed every year because they fall into this cat- egory." The Daily Mail reports. "Dr Eduard Verhagen, an em- inent Dutch paediatric medi- cal expert who supports this practice, says a child can even be killed on the grounds that it is distressing for a parent to watch it in pain." According to the report, even physically healthy people suffering from depression have been killed by doctors under Holland's right-to-die laws. In once case, "a 54-year-old woman with personality and eating disorders is reported to have received lethal injections at a 'Life End' clinic in Am- sterdam. Indeed, according to Holland's health minister, sev- eral right-to-die deaths have involved psychiatric patients." This is the American fu- ture envisioned by California Governor Jerry Brown, who claims to be a Catholic studi- ously considering this issue before authorizing govern- ment-approved suicide. Proponents will snootily proclaim Oregon provides the historical proof that physician assisted suicide presents no risks to those who may waver on this decision to live or die. They are wrong. The Disability Rights and Defense Fund has re- searched many cases in Ore- gon wherein doctor-shopping evades so-called "safeguards" against killing people who may not really know what they are doing. They report Kate Cheney, 85, died by assisted sui- cide under Oregon's law even though she had early demen- tia. Her physician declined to provide the lethal prescrip- tion. Her managed care pro- vider then found another phy- sician to prescribe the lethal dose. The second physician ordered a psychiatric evalua- tion, which found that Cheney lacked "the very high level of capacity required to weigh options about assisted sui- cide." Cheney's request was denied, and her daughter "be- came angry." Another evaluation took place, this time with a psy- chologist who insisted on meeting Cheney alone. Dis- turbingly, the psychologist deemed Cheney competent while still noting that her "choices may be influenced by her family's wishes and her daughter, Erika, may be somewhat coercive." Cheney soon took the drugs and died. As the country leading the way on euthanasia, the Nether- lands presents the world with the most egregious of physician assisted suicide outcomes. Physician assisted suicide laws expressly prohibit pa- tients from being killed with- out their expressed consent. Research by attorney Anne McTavish shows "In 1990, 130,000 people died in the Netherlands: 2,300 people asked doctors to kill them; 400 asked doctors to pro- vide them with the means to kill themselves; 8,100 died when doctors deliberately gave them an overdose of pain medication to kill them (for which 4,941 patients didn't consent); 1,040 people died when doctors euthanized them without their knowledge or consent (72 per cent of those never having given any indication they would want their lives terminated)." 4,941 patients didn't con- sent. 1,040 people died when doctors euthanized them without their knowledge or consent. Today, the killing of the mentally ill continues. Minors in the Netherlands are now allowed to choose eu- thanasia, too. Children ages 12 to 15 may ask to die if they can get parents' permission. After age 16, young people can make the decision with only "parental involvement." This is Jerry Brown's brave new world creeping upon America, as though there were no such palliative care as pain management or therapeutic psychological counseling. And unless you vote for can- didates against the death doc- tors, it's coming to your state. RickJensenisDelaware's award-winning conservative talk show host on WDEL, streaming live on WDEL.com from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time. Contact Rick at rick@ wdel.com, or follow him on Twitter @Jensen1150WDEL. Rick Jensen InCalifornia, a right to die Cartoonist's take It was warm for a Sunday morning in October, and it of- fered a good opportunity to have a talk on the lawn with our big Bullmastiff, All That Jazz. "You're two years old now, and ready to have adult discus- sions. Anything on your mind?" Jazz rolled over a couple of times, shook himself, then sat and spoke. "Well, you seem to be getting a lot of attention in the letters to the editor section of the Daily News. Doesn't the editor like you?" "Oh, I think so. We main- tain a cordial relationship. But if you are wondering why he al- lows some of the letters un- favorable to me into print, he probably doesn't care if they are complimentary or not. Column writing is not a popularity con- test. As long as the letters are not too defamatory or libelous in the legal sense of the words, it is his duty to print them re- gardless of the writer's remarks as long as they sign their name and address. By the way, one letter writer says he doesn't be- lieve dogs can talk." "Ha!," said Jazz. "He just doesn't take the time to lis- ten to us. I mean if he has pets. Isn't he the letter writer who wrote that because you were drafted into the army during the Korean Conflict, that made you a coward? Does he believe that everyone that enlists is OK, but everyone who waits to be drafted is a coward?" "His remark could be inter- preted that way. He states that his family members have fought for five generations. Apparently they all enlisted. However, not everyone gets drafted in this country. " "No?," asked Jazz. "No. Some join The National Guard. Some fail their physi- cals because of chronic asthma or flat feet or even being color blind. 'Essential service,' in time of war, was another cate- gory enabling men to continue their employment in indus- try important to the war effort. Some avoided service as con- scientious objectors and some fled to Canada. Many men were just too young or too old for the draft" The big pup rolled over again, and then concluded, "I'm glad you are still around so we can talk like this. I think it is better to converse man to man rather than by letters to the ed- itor. I agreed, and Jazz began looking for a bone. ••• Note to columnist B. Corne- lius: Lester Wolfe took me to task for using the expression "pissed off." Apparently he was unaware that you introduced the phrase when you calculated how many readers I have irri- tated over 50 years of column writing. We understand that Lester is not known for accu- racy, but credit where credit is due. Besides, he now refers to me as "Robert," so let's cut him some slack. ••• TIME magazine suggests 6 ways to stop (or slow down) mass shootings: 1) Don't name the shooters, 2) Courts should impose treatment on adults considered a risk to themselves or others, 3) Add more armed school resource officers, 4) Let cops confiscate guns and flag people they consider too dan- gerous to own guns, 5) Make gun manufacturers accountable for shootings, and cease pro- duction of AR-15 assault rifles. Sounds like a good start. ••• If you are thinking of retir- ing from your occupation and want to be able to live in rela- tive comfort, you should con- sider waiting until you are 70 to begin collecting social security. Although you can become eligi- ble at age 62, for every year you delay, your monthly payment will grow between 6% and 8%. Of course, if your health won't permit staying on the job, that's another matter. ••• "The point of religion is not to find out how God works and what God wants; it's to find out how we can be of service to each other." Jon Carroll ••• Peripatetic: Going from place to place, usually as part of your job. It must be costly and trau- matic to move from the secu- rity of your home to a loca- tion in another city, and yet sources say the average Ameri- can moves 11 times during their lifetime. No wonder many feel alienated from society. There's nothing like being able to stay in place and putting down your roots. I marvel how well my fa- ther did when he and his par- ents and their brothers and sis- ters had to move (because of Grandfather's health) from their farm in New Jersey in 1919, and landed in Bakersfield, California without a clue as to where they would live and how they might prosper. But that story had a happy ending. ••• So, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has decided to no longer show nude females in his mag- azine. He is doing this in hopes that declining sales will halt and the magazine will rebound with a magazine of more intel- lectual proportions. Lots of luck, Hugh, but I think most intellectuals will avail themselves of The New Yorker instead. ••• Exciting playoff baseball games this past week. The mis- sus and I thought, with the Gi- ants out of the running, the se- ries would be boring, but far from it. Looks like the up- start young Cubs and the Mets will prevail. Who would have thought? ••• A French policeman stopped an Englishman's car and asks if he has been drinking. The Englishman admitted that he has been drinking all day, that his daughter got mar- ried that morning, and that he drank champagne and a few bottles of wine at the reception plus many single malts there- after. Quite upset, the policeman proceeded to alcohol-test the Englishman and verified that he was indeed totally drunk. He asks the Englishman if he knows why, under French Law, he is going to be arrested? The Englishman answers with a bit of humor, "No sir, I do not. But while we're asking questions, do you realize that this is a Brit- ish car, and that my wife is be- hind the wheel on the driver's side?" The French policeman smiled weakly and waved them on their way. Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail. I say Dog chimes in on letter writers The Disability Rights and Defense Fund has researched many cases in Oregon wherein doctor-shopping evades so-called "safeguards" against killing people who may not really know what they are doing. StateandNational Assemblyman James Gallagher, 2060Talbert Drive, Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530895-4217, http://ad03.asmrc.org/ Senator Jim Nielsen, 2634Forest Ave., Ste. 110, Chico 95928, 530 879-7424, senator.nielsen@sen- ate.ca.gov Governor Jerry Brown, State Capi- tal Building, Sacramento 95814, 916445-2841, fax 916558-3160, governor@governor.ca.gov U.S. Representative Doug La- Malfa, 507Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515, 202225-3076 U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, One Post St., Ste. 2450, San Francisco 94104, 415393-0707, fax 415 393-0710 U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, 1700 Montgomery St., San Francisco 94111, 510286-8537, fax 202 224-0454 Local Tehama County Supervisors, 527-4655 District 1, Steve Chamblin, Ext. 3015 District 2, Candy Carlson, Ext. 3014 District 3, Dennis Garton, Ext. 3017 District 4, Bob Williams, Ext. 3018 District 5, Burt Bundy, Ext. 3016 Red Bluff City Manager, Richard Crabtree, 527-2605, Ext. 3061 Corning City Manager, John Brewer, 824-7033 Your officials OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, October 16, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A8