he Hawai`i Death With Dignity Society was formed in December of 2004 when several long-time Hawai`i DwD advocates began to sense the need for a hands-on local organizing and coordinating effort to continue to lobby for passage of the DWD bill at the State Legislature. HDWDS was formed, primarily because several dramatic changes had taken place within our national and local organizations. The National Hemlock Society and Compassion In Dying merged and the new entity is now End-of-Life Choices (EOLC). Hawaii's local DwD advocate, Roland Halpern accepted a position with EOLC in Colorado. The local Hemlock Hawai`i chapter has become an independent organization focused on specific local issues and not on passing legislation. Also, we feel that after our near success in 2002, we made a great mistake in allowing our local effort to be taken over and directed by the large mainland organizations.

In March of 2007, Scott Foster, Communications Director for the HDwDS said, "The confusion caused by the dramatic changes to the large mainland organizations cost us dearly in time and resources. During the past two years, we have seen our support base erode and the opposition become better organized. It is clear that we must ramp up our effort to build and organize on the ground within the many political districts statewide. This is going to take significent time and resources." As of March 2007, three of the original team that saw a bill nearly pass in 2002 are now involved in the new local organization; Juliet Begley, George Fox and Scott Foster.

The Hawai`i Death With Dignity Society joins the growing coalition of local organizations intent on passing a Hawai`i DwD law; Advocates for Consumer Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, the First Unitarian Church of Honolulu, Free Thinkers Maui, Humanists Hawai'i, and Honolulu's Kokua Council. Many members of Hawaii's medical and legal communities, as well as numerous prominent Hawai'i civic organizations and original members of the Governor Benjamin Cayetano's Blue Ribbon Panel on Living & Dying with Dignity also support this effort. All are united to pass the DWD legislation in Hawai`i.

April 5, 2007
LOS ANGELES TIMES
EDITORIAL
Allow assisted suicide
California's lawmakers should pass a bill to give the terminally ill control over their lives.
FOR THE THIRD YEAR straight, a bill to grant terminally ill patients control of their final days by giving them access to lethal drugs is wending its way through the Legislature. For the third year straight, opponents have weighed in on moral and religious grounds, branding assisted suicide part of a destructive culture of death.
There is little that can be said to alleviate religious objections to a person being the author of his or her own death. Little, that is, except that giving people the power to end their lives does not impinge on those who would reject that power for themselves. MORE

March 18, 2007
HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN
When Hawaii's legislature narrowly rejected a proposal patterned after Oregon's Death With Dignity Act five years ago, opponents warned that it would lead patients to feel obliged to die and would cause a decline in the quality end of life care. Since then, Governor Linda Lingle has opposed the measures as a "slippery slope" that would lead to numerous acts of euthanasia.

The latest data from Oregon reveals that those fears have not come about. In the decade since the law went into effect, fewer than 300 patients have chosen to end their lives by taking doctor-prescribed drugs -- about one in a thousand of those diagnosed with terminal illness in that state.

Meanwhile, Oregon ranks among the nations' best states in end of life care, as the law has raised awareness about care for the terminally ill. Physician-assisted suicide in Hawai`i was set aside last month by a house committee, and a similar bill died in the senate. Meanwhile, the issue is being debated in California, Arizona, Vermont and Washington.
NOTE: This was a lead in to the excellent article, Oregon takes stock of 'right to die' law, originally published in the March 12, 2007, Christian Science Monitor. Read it HERE

Sunday, March 4, 2007
HONOLULU ADVERTISER
Hot-button hearings are proper -- and practical
By Jerry Burris
Public Affairs Editor
Over the past several weeks state legislators have held lengthy, emotional and ultimately fruitless public hearings on several hot-button issues. One was on so-called death with dignity, or physician-assisted suicide legislation. Another was on a proposal to legalize civil unions as a way for same-sex couples to gain the rights and responsibilities of a married couple. MORE

February 2, 2007
HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN
"Death with Dignity" deserves fair hearing
EDITORIAL
A bill to allow physician-assisted suicide has been introduced in the Legislature.
THE state Senate's narrow vote rejecting adoption of Oregon's Death With Dignity Act five years ago caused the issue to languish in the next two sessions. The U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of the Bush administration's challenge of the Oregon law should cause Hawaii to reconsider the legislation. MORE

January, 31, 2007
HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN
House panel to mull "Death with Dignity"
No further action is being scheduled for a similar Senate bill
By B.J. Reyes
bjreyes@starbulletin.com
A year after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law, lawmakers in Hawaii plan to examine the issue once again. The proposal to allow competent, terminally ill adults obtain a lethal dose of medication to end their lives will be heard by the House Health Committee. Just as with past proposals, the bill specifically prohibits mercy killings, lethal injections and active euthanasia, and requires patients to provide informed consent. MORE

January 22, 2006
WASHINGTON POST
Assisted-Suicide Ruling May Affect Painkiller Cases By Marc Kaufman
Doctors who specialize in pain management and their advocates are hoping that last week's Supreme Court decision upholding Oregon's assisted-suicide law will boost their efforts to defend colleagues accused by the government of illegally prescribing narcotic painkillers to their patients. MORE

January 19, 2006
HONOLULU ADVERTISER
EDITORIAL
We must help those facing the end of life. No questions inspire public passion - with usually divisive effects - more than those concerning the beginning and ending of life. MORE

January 18, 2005
HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN
Our Opinion
Legislators should reconsider 'death with dignity' bill
THE ISSUE The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Oregon's physician-assisted death law. THE U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of the Bush administration's absurd challenge of Oregon's Death With Dignity Act came as no surprise. The high court had ruled previously that decisions on whether to allow or ban physician-assisted death should be left to states. Hawaii should take the opportunity to approve legislation similar to Oregon's law. MORE

Tuesday, March 8, 2005
HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN
OUR OPINION
"Death with dignity" could find impetus elsewhere
THE ISSUE
Physician-assisted suicide is being considered by California and Vermont legislatures and is before the U.S. Supreme Court. MORE