President, Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network

Bobby Schindler

President, Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network

Opponent Testimony on Senate Bill 165

April 20, 2016

Mr. Chairman and members of the Senate Civil Justice Committee:

My work as a pro-life and disability rights advocate began with the fight for the life of my sister, Terri Schindler Schiavo, beginning in 2000, who in 2005 was starved and dehydrated to death by court order at the demand of her husband. I have spoken extensively throughout the United States and internationally about Terri, her case, and the hundreds of thousands of individuals living like Terri today.

Most recently, the Life & Hope Network my family founded has begun the dream of our father, Bob Schindler – to establish a rehabilitation center in my sister's memory. Unlike other rehabilitation centers, this will be a state of the art center with first class medical staff and administration that will develop a treatment model not being offered anywhere else in our country for brain injured and other medically vulnerable people, whose care is often deemed futile though they are disabled, not dying.

Protections for the medically vulnerable—elderly, disabled, and chronically ill—are at risk. California recently became thefourth state to legalize assisted suicide; New York State is under attack to do so, then other states to be targeted, including Ohio.

Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) encourage patients or surrogates to make critical care decisions, and are a first step toward opening the door to covert euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.

MOLST is promoted as for the terminally ill, believed dying. If Florida had MOLST in statute at the time of my sister's brain injury, her husband Michael would have been able to sign a MOLST form for her and have Terri starved and dehydrated to death immediately, even though again, Terri was disabled not dying, and could have lived a normal lifespan with proper care and rehabilitation, which Michael also denied her.

The POLST/MOLST concept originated at the Oregon Health and Science University Center for Ethics in Health Care (OHSU CFE). The National POLST Paradigm Task Force has its national office at OHSU CFE, and lobbies states to legislate POLST forms.

Oregon Health and Science University Center for Ethics in Health Care also produced the Oregon Death with Dignity Act: a Guidebook for Health Care Professionals1 to help doctors fulfill assisted suicide requests.

Two members of the POLST Paradigm Task Force, Patrick Dunn, M.D., and Susan Tolle, M.D., were involved in issuing the Guidebook. Under Oregon law, "death with dignity" means physician-assisted suicide.

The euthanasia group, "Death with Dignity," supports POLST/MOLST.2 The pro-death group The Hemlock Society, now known as "Compassion and Choices," also advocates POLST/MOLST.3

Derek Humphrey founded The Hemlock Society and authored the book, Final Exit, which a number of people have used as a blueprint to commit suicide with the book's do-it-yourself instructions.

Notably, the National POLST Paradigm Taskforce itself cautions against embedding MOLST/POLST in statute (POLST Legislative Guide, Approved 2/28/14, p. 8, Issue 2:Is Legislation Needed to Establish POLST?, paragraph 2: "the NPPTF strongly recommends that exact POLST form language not be included in any statute or regulation.")

End-of-Life or critical care choices are covered in Ohio law under already-existing Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, consent to treatment forms, patient declarations and health care durable power of attorney—all available to Ohio citizens to manage their health care preferences.

Given the fact that MOLST/POLST means that surrogates can sign for medically vulnerable people to deny care they may need, and that these forms originated with and are promoted by pro-euthanasia groups, MOLST is not a benefit to Ohio citizens, but a dangerous precedent toward assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Please oppose Senate Bill 165, Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment.

1 Oregon Death with Dignity Act: a Guidebook for Health Care Professionals:

2 Pro-euthanasia group "Death with Dignity" supports POLST:

3 "Compassion & Choices" (formerly Hemlock Society) Good to Go Resource Guide, which documents support for POLST/MOLST, page 5

Bobby Schindler, President

Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network

P.O. Box 521, Narberth PA 19072

(855) 300-4673, (813) 766-6239 (cell)