Assisted suicide advocates pushing Washington’s I 1000 are resorting to coercion to pressure the media into using their advocacy phrases when describing the pro-assisted suicide initiative. From the Eye on Olympia blog :I-1000 proponents have been pressing news organizations not to use the words “assisted suicide” to describe the initiative. (I-1000 would allow mentally-competent, terminally ill people who wanted it to be prescribed lethal medication.) I was told yesterday by a campaign official, for example, that supporters in Oregon—the only state to have such a law so far— would refuse to speak with me if I included the word “suicide” in my story...The measures proponents say that the word “suicide” is hurtful to relatives and friends. Also, they say, a terminally ill person, by definition, cannot choose to live.
I hope the media resist the pressure—I am not holding my breath that most reporters will risk the “big get” interview—but good for Eye on Olympia for busting the tactic.
