Countywide : UCI Series Forum to Focus on Prop. 161
UC Irvine will hold a public forum Thursday to discuss the “Death With Dignity” initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Discussing the issue will be Michael H. White, co-author of the initiative, and Corrine Bayley, vice president of ethics and corporate values at St. Joseph Health Systems in Orange, who will speak against doctor-assisted suicide.
Proposition 161 would allow doctors to provide or administer lethal doses of drugs to help terminally ill patients kill themselves. The doctor must certify that the person is likely to die within six months due to an incurable illness. The person’s wish to die must be verified by two witnesses who are neither relatives nor health care workers.
Proposition 161 is considered the most emotionally loaded measure on the November ballot because it would legalize suicide for terminally ill people. Under current law, mentally competent adults have a right to refuse medical treatment, but a doctor may not legally provide the means for patients to kill themselves.
Proponents say the ballot measure would allow the terminally ill to die with dignity. Opponents say the measure allows people to decide to die too easily and does not provide enough safeguards for mistakes.
The forum begins at 7 p.m. in the Crystal Cove Auditorium in the Student Center. Admission is free. Call (714) 856-4392 for details.
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