A major reason that assisted suicide has not moved beyond Oregon in this country is that the Democratic Party remains divided about the issue—despite some of its more left leaning members seeking to transform the issue into a Democratic Agenda item. Proof is in the inability of Democrats Patty Berg and Lloyd Levine to pass A.B. 651 last year in the California Legislature—both houses of which are dominated by Democrats.
Further proof of this can be found in the vote breakdown by party in Vermont, which just defeated assisted suicide:
Democrats: 55 Yes —- 36 No
Republicans: 2 Yes —- 45 No
Other: 6 Yes —- 1 No
Total: 63 Yes —- 82 No
Good for the no-voting Democrats who have not forgotten that the party is supposed to be about protecting the most vulnerable of society’s members.
