NEWS

Anderton conflicted over 'Death With Dignity' bill

PHIL DAVIS and GRACE TOOHEY
DAILY TIMES STAFF WRITER/ CAPITAL NEWS SERVICE
Carl Anderton’s vote on a Maryland “Death With Dignity” bill may very well rest on his brother-in-law’s fight with brain cancer. “At its core, it’s technically suicide,” Anderton, R-38A-Wicomico, says. “My personal belief is suicide is wrong. But when you look at it not from that angle, you feel sympathy with folks with terminal illness.”

Carl Anderton's vote on a Maryland "Death With Dignity" bill may very well rest on his brother-in-law's fight with brain cancer.

"At its core, it's technically suicide," Anderton, R-38B-Wicomico, states, referencing the fact that it's commonly referred to as "assisted suicide."

But his voice and his answers show an inner conflict that illustrates just how difficult the issue is.

"My personal belief is suicide is wrong," Anderton says. "But when you look at it not from that angle, you feel sympathy with folks with terminal illness."

The brother-in-law Anderton speaks of is Somerset County Sheriff's Deputy Chuck Salvas. The 49-year-old is married to Anderton's sister, Julie, and is currently in a battle with glioblastoma, a kind of brain tumor he was diagnosed with in July 2012.

Bills in both the House of Delegates and state Senate could potentially allow Salvas to make the decision to end the two-and-a-half year fight he's had with the illness.

With Anderton learning that Salva's treatments for the cancer have been stopped by doctors, a man whose son recently preached Christian values to children at Emmanuel Wesleyan Church in Salisbury is conflicted, to say the least.

The Salvas family promotes #SalvasStrong in support of Chuck Salvas. The Somerset County sheriff's deputy was diagnosed with a type of brain cancer in 2012.

"My outlook may vary a bit based on his fight," Anderton says. "In conversations with his family, they're going to fight it all the way to end.

"But I don't know what I would do. I think I'd know what I'd do. I would fight for my life until it was gone," he continues. "But there's something to say for free will, even though I don't agree with it."

He says he wants to hear from his constituents back in his district on the matter as well before he moves forward with voting yes or no.

State Sen. Ron Young, D-Frederick and Washington, is sponsoring his chamber's bill, which was introduced Monday, and Delegate Shane Pendergrass, D-Howard, is sponsoring the House version, which she planned to introduce Friday.

The legislation includes many safeguards so the choice isn't misused, Young said. The bill, which Young said is modeled after similar laws in Washington state and Oregon, requires each case to include a doctor's certification that the patient is terminally ill: a prognosis of death within six months; a psychologist's report confirming the patient is of sound mind; and at least two witnesses, including one who is not a relative or in any way a benefactor from the person's death.

Carozza's concerns

Other delegates voiced concerns that the safeguards outlined in the bill don't go far enough, including fellow Eastern Shore Delegate Mary Beth Carozza.

"I am opposed to the 'Death With Dignity' legislation," Carozza, R-38C-Worcester, wrote in a statement, "and I have heard from several constituents, including doctors, who have expressed their strong opposition of the bill."

Her concerns mirror those of many other families who hold onto hope that medical science will progress to a point where their loved ones might one day be cured.

"I am very concerned that, despite the safeguards this legislation supposedly puts in place, this proposal could allow health care providers to suggest a patient end his or her life when there might be treatment available for that patient," she continued.

But the bill has substantial support across the Bay Bridge, with two public servants serving as an example of why some believe the bill is necessary.

Named after former Annapolis mayor Roger "Pip" Moyer, who died in January, and former assistant state Attorney General Richard E. Israel, the bill is a testament to their battles with Parkinson's disease.

Israel lives in the Ginger Cove Retirement Community in Annapolis, said McShane Glover, who spoke on behalf of Israel about the legislation because of the progression of his disease. As a man of the law, Glover said, Israel is looking for a legal way to have a death he considers dignified. Parkinson's has taken away many of the 72-year-old's daily life functions, making walking, talking, eating and moving very difficult, she said.

"I just thought it was time to do it here," Sen. Young said. "Some people like to say assisted suicide, but it's not. It's totally someone making the decision themselves."

Proponents dislike the term "assisted suicide" because they say there is no one assisting or facilitating a patient's decision to die. More importantly, they argue these are not cases of suicide because patients are going to die soon either way.

Pendergrass, who will sponsor the bill in the House, said she has considered the right to die an important issue since she was young.

"As a young teenager, I watched my grandfather with Parkinson's disease. He suffered enormously," Pendergrass said. "He was completely mentally alert and aware, and his body became a prison for his mind. … I just believe it's the right thing to do to give people the control of their destiny."

It also helps to limit unnecessary pain, Young said, and it saves medical costs.

"The impact on everyone"

For disability rights organizations such as Not Dead Yet, this is far from a civil rights issue.

"You really have to think about the impact on everyone, and there is no way to prevent mistakes and abuse from ending the lives of some people where it wasn't really their choice," said Diane Coleman, president and CEO of Not Dead Yet, a national, grassroots disability rights group that opposes all forms of assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Most concerning for Coleman were the top reasons people used Oregon's death with dignity act, which she said were for feeling a loss of autonomy and dignity and feeling like a burden to others — not for pain.

"That sounds more like a duty to die than a right to die," said Coleman, who has a neuromuscular disorder requiring her to use a motorized wheelchair.

Ari Ne'eman, president of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a national organization dedicated to advancing the disability rights movement with regards to autism, said he and his group also worry about the bill's effects on already marginalized portions of society, like people with disabilities.

Individuals with disabilities already face obstacles in the health care system, Ne'eman said, and legalizing the right to die would further exacerbate the problem. Ne'eman, who has autism, said he doesn't see nearly enough safeguards preventing any coercion, and in places where a similar law is in place, he doesn't see any investigations of abuse.

But proponents of the bill say no one will be influenced or persuaded to do something they don't want to do.

"The way the bill is written, it is definitely someone making their own decision, knowing they are terminal and not wanting to go on, and capable of making that decision themselves," Young said. "That's an important difference."

"People don't want to suffer"

Donna Smith, Maryland liaison for the national right-to-die advocacy group Compassion and Choices, said this choice doesn't have to be for everyone.

"If you talk to those that are facing terminal illnesses, and their families and caregivers, people don't want to suffer," Smith said. "There comes a point of time that there's nothing medicine can do ... and the quality of life is unbearable."

Compassion and Choices volunteer Sally Hunt of Silver Spring, Maryland, said she doesn't see why shutting off a ventilator can be OK while the choice for a sound-minded person to die peacefully is not an option.

"If they want to, they should have the right," Hunt said. She watched a close friend battle cancer, and when it came back the second time, she said she wished the option could have been in place for her friend, instead of suffering.

But no matter how much support the bill might get, Hunt said, they still have to convince Gov. Larry Hogan, who is Catholic. A spokeswoman for the governor would not speak specifically about this legislation last week.

"We are in the very beginning of a long legislative session, and as we all know, most bills have the tendency to look much different by the time April comes around," Erin Montgomery said. "The governor and his staff will be monitoring countless pieces of legislation as this session plays out over the next several months."

In October, Hogan, then a candidate, told a diocesan magazine, The Catholic Standard, that he would oppose measures to legalize assisted suicide in Maryland.

"I believe in the sanctity of human life, and I believe a physician's role is to save lives, not terminate them," he said.

Mary Ellen Russell, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, said the group does not support the idea of death with dignity, though she hadn't seen the actual bill yet, because it inevitably pressures patients to choose something that is less burdensome on relatives and caretakers.

"Certainly the church would be opposed. We don't see this as compassionate," Russell said. "We think caring for others and end-of-life care is compassionate."

Russell said there are better and more humane options for end-of-life care, including improving medical support to minimize suffering.

Similar Death with Dignity acts are in place in Washington state, Oregon and Vermont, and many other jurisdictions are looking into the idea, including Washington, D.C.

But for Ne'eman, the focus of this issue should be on better, more dignified support services for people who are ill, aging or have disabilities.

Ultimately, it will make for at least one tough decision for an Eastern Shore legislator with plenty at stake.

"It's tough saying you can't do this and you can't do that," Anderton says, pausing for a second to think of what to say next.

"It's tough. It really is."

pdavis3@gannett.com 410-341-6544 @DT_PhilDavis

About the bill

The legislation introduced by state Sen. Ron Young requires each case to include a doctor's certification that the patient is terminally ill — a prognosis of death within six months; a psychologist's report confirming the patient is of sound mind; and at least two witnesses, including one who is not a relative or in any way a benefactor from the person's death.