Corvallis Gazette-Times from Corvallis, Oregon • 1

"We do not question' the state's un-; By Lyle Dennistoa 01 The Washington Sur WASHINGTON Karen Qulnlan's "right to die' something new In the law, ii lot like the right that "Jane Roe" won three yeart ago, the right to have an abortion. recognize a freer choice about crucial kinds of medical decisions. But the choice is not an unlimited or absolute one for the person involved. Rather, the private choice must be based on at least some professional medical advice; there will be, however, less interference by public officials or public Jaws. The authority of government to regulate much of medical practice Is far from ended, of but It now takes more to Justify the use' of official power when the medical choice Is one that say affects the "right to privacy." So far, such a right has been found to exist in the medical field for people seeking birth-control devices, for pregnant women seeking abortions, and now In New Jersey for the family of a comatose patient, seeking to allow her to die naturally.

In developing a "right to privacy" for patients such as Miss Quintan, New Jersey's highest court has not enunciated a "right to die" in all circumstances; that this is not a right to die "on demand." No ill person has a right, under that ruling, to have doctors or anyone else take steps to bring about death if the person has any hope of surviving the illness. "Mercy killing" is not' permitted under the decision. Only if doctors agree that all hope of recovery is gone, and only when death is being postponed by use of "life supporting measures," is there a right to have those measures stopped. If, for any reason, the patient survives even after those measures are ended, is no right to have life ended. Thus, the "right to die," as defined by the state court, is simply a right to choose to have a medical procedure stopped, thus allowing death to occur if it will naturally.

But even that right is not one that could be exercised simply as matter of per-sonal choice. A doctor must agree that there is no hope of recovery, and he must agree professionally to withdraw the special measures keeping the patient alive. The doctor Is not the final authority, either. The state supreme court said his conclusion that the case is hopeless must, be supported by a hospital "ethics committee." In the case of Karen Quintan, who has been in a coma almost a the family must make up its mind, but that is where the matter stands at this point. No further steps toward exercising the medical choice will be taken until after it is clear there will be no appeals of the decision to the U.S.

Supreme Court. As of now, only the state attorney general Is considering an appeal. He is expected to decide early this week. Later this week, supervising doctors at St. Clare's Hospital in Oenville, N.J., where Miss Quintan is being cared for, will meet to decide what to do.

The Jjospltal has no ethics committee. It appears that the steps in the medical review required in her case are considerably more involved than Is true for. abortions, under the 1973 "Jane Roe" decision. There, a woman's right to have an abortion was said to be absolute if a doctor agreed in the first three months of pregnancy. Unless the Supreme Court, in a pending Missouri case," requires more actual consultation by the doctor, his role now In a "first trimester" abortion sometimes consists of no more than performing the abortion on a person who is a total stranger to him.

After the first trimester, the "Roe" ruling does allow the state to require specified medical procedures, in order to protect the woman's health. And, in the final trimester; the ruling permits states to step in and forbid abortions altogether. The New Jersey Supreme Court applied that same kind of sliding scale of state authority to intervene in cases of patients being kept alive by artificial means. If the patient with a terminal illness is truly hopeless medically, the state has no role at all top lay. The decision is among the patients, their families and doctors.

Gorvallis if i cue BieUe- limes VOL 68, NO. 292 15 CENTS CORVAILIS, Analysis Hani vu utu miiiv theory, that there la a "right to privacy," the new doctrine that aome very ill people may chooae to die ii limited In scope 1 just aa the right to an abortion la. The New Jersey Supreme Court's ruling Wednesday, providing a legal means for Karen Quinlan'i artlftcally sustained life to lapse, shows basic parallels with the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision itukln mnat (w'lnn Wal Together, the emergence of the two rights Illustrates the fundamental change now coming Into law and medicine, the trend of that change, so far, Is to I Meanwhile, down on Candidates feel cut in 3 tT i I 1 i 4, federal money the farm vi ny Republican in the House," said Rep. Richard Bonebrake of Roseburg.

"I can't run on all Uiese issues." Rep. Drew Davis of Portland, also said he could not run on the platform. "It smells too much like socialism," said Rep. Mas Rijken of Newport. "Nowhere in the human and legal rights plank have we expressed our responsibilities." However, none of the speakers said they would condemn the entire platform.

The human and legal rights plank contains statements opposing discrimination against homosexuals and supporting having representatives of prisoners on parole boards, The latter statement was worked this way: "The composition of parole boards should be broadened to Include representatives of prisoner populations and disadvantaged groups in society: decisions 'dull' I 1 i V' oouoiea power to punisn uie using or human life, but that power does not en- compass individuals terminating medical treatment pursuant to their right to privacy," the court said. there comes a point at which the individual's rights overcome the state's in- terest." But in cases of less serious uiness, tne state is free to act to protect life or health including use of criminal prosecution if someone brings about a patient's death. In those situations, the, New Jersey Supreme Court said, the state has an interest in "preserving the sanctity of human life" that is greater than the "right to privacy' of a person who seeks the opportunity to die. Even with that limitation, however, the Quinlan decision does mark a significant expansion of the "right to privacy." No other court had ever indicated that such a right had anything to do with the case of a (Continued on page 10) MONDAY, APRIL 5, 1976 OREGON SINCE 1862, darter officials said their organization's actual cash flow won't be affwtMt untn Anril 21 twrauw nf thrir bookkeeping organization. After that time, a spokesman said, the main effect will be on television advertising, which was where most of the Carter matching funds were spent.

"We will have to forego many of them (TV ads) if Congress does not re-enact the law," he said. A Reagan spokeswoman said the elimination of the charter plane has caused considerable extra work in rearranging transportation and the schedule for appearances in Texas. The decision to eliminate the plane, "while it may inconvenience the campaign and the news media and force some schedule revision, in noway means Gov. Reagan's campaign effort is being reduced," said a statement from Reagan aide Michael Deaver. A spokesman for the President Ford Committee said the fund cutoff has not seriously affected the campaign because there had been considerable cash on hand.

But he added that if the commission doesn't resume distribution of funds soon there "probably would" be an effect. He said there is money on hand for current primary needs. The House and Senate have approved bills to get the commission back into business, but these still face changes in conference and there is some question as to whether President Ford will sign the result Ford asked Congress to simply make the changes requested by the" Supreme Court, but Congress added-: other provisions. laeff 3 'j if a i'-er i in i ij jasnes h-t wt tesioi for -i i- i etout hit CvunU's ri'J are i.y: i le i.fi. I -Ft i tar i'? roT.e f'om? I -menu and comi 15 i 16-19 4 Movies ir.a restaurants 24 -s i lil! I i 1.

v. in me yard, plont a gorden, go to the thnnelvi, 10-yearld Martin Von Von Seek, of Monroe, wa finiihed u-Saturday adSundoy were rke beach, rhe cor. While mony 6k was home on the farm, washing ing the tractor in the fields and ordered days to do jurt about onything work OregOniant were owl enjoying the family tractor. Martin's father, John the wath job. sumc jlj' cuius A t.

jot: i V'-i- 3 Goivnt-timM PhoM by Tm WttrM dians" rights were approved, including one saying the Bureau of Indian Affairs should be run by representaatives elected by tribes and urban Indian groups. Repeal of draft laws was favored, as was a statement that persons should have the right to refuse to serve in undeclared wars. Revising Ae welfare system to provide a guaranteed annual income was supported. After extensive debate, the delegates, deleted a platform statement saying tax exemptions should not be allowed for the third and subsequent children born after Jan. 1, 1978, unless the children are adopted.

Use of highway funds for mass tansit and a one-cent increase in the seven-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax were sup-continued on page 10) dustry." It calls for the election of the state Board of Education and the appointment of the state school superintendent, a reversal of the present procedure. The platform wants all school districts that get state money to be required to provide kindergartens. A plank that was interpreted to mean students who. wanted to change" their career courses or anyone wanting to return to school would get state support was deleted when some delegates complained the cost would be immense and would allow some students "to remain in school forever." An effort to delete a plank that says, "Oregon's law and medical schools should be expanded to allow all qualified Oregon students to be admitted" was defeated with the argument that more doctors and lawyers are needed in Oregon. J- Added to the platform from the floor was a plank that would require all teachers to have a Red Cross first aid (Continued on page 10) WASHINGTON AP) Presidential hopefuls are facing a growing shortage of money because of the inactivity of the Federal Election Commission.

Ronald Reagan said over the weekend that a lack of money has forced him to dispense with a charter plane for campaign trips. And other candidates indicated that the lack of federal money will soon be having an effect on them too, unless the commission gets back in business by being restructured to meet the requirements of the Supreme Court. 'I think it's disraceful that the Congress has not moved to restore the FEC," former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter said Sunday. Matching funds for presidential can-, didates were cut off last month under a Supreme Court order which said the commission was improperly constituted to distribute money.

Laws sought on use of federal money WASHINGTON AP) Should the nation's mayors, county officials and governors be allowed to use revenue-sharing money to visit Washington, meet with congressmen and lobby for more revenue-sharing money? Rep. Jack Brooks, chairman of the House Government Operations Committee and a vociferous opponent of revenue-sharing, insists that they should not, and he is pushing an amendment to revenue-sharing legislation to insure that they do not. Whether money allocated to the nation's states, counties and municipalities under the five-year-old program is actually used to fund trips by public officials to Washington is difficult to determine. The money is distributed with few federal instructions on how it should be spent, and in most cases it goes directly into a general fund. But Brooks suspects that cities and states have, in some way, used the money to pressure Congress into giving them more money.

The revenue-sharing program has become extremely popular with the local and state officials, returning to their jurisdictions approximately $30 billion from the federal treasury since it was started in 1972. The officials have been pressuring their congressmen and members of the House Government Operations Committee, particularly Brooks, for passage of a renewed program. Since November, three organizations representing mayors, governors and county officials have had large meetings in Washington. Their primary goat has been to let Congress know they want the revenue-sharing program continued beyond its Dec. 31 expiration.

Most officials at these meetings had their expenses paid by their governments. (Continued on page 10) TD1 idiiiiQ SALEM (AP The Oregon Democratic party concluded platform convention Sunday by passing a human and legal rights plank denounced as too radical by some Democratic office holders. A resolution saying the state party won't support Democratic candidates who deviate largely from the platform was defeated as the two-day convention rwound down. There was barely a quorum Sunday on several votes compared with about 500 voting delegates on Saturday. The human and legal rights plank was adopted.

173-107. Several speakers, opposing the resolution, said the majority of the delegates should not condemn candidates who disagree with some of the platform statements. "If I had to run on It (the entire platform) yon would have another Convention rated Emotion By Michael Bradley Of The Gaxette-Times Benton County Democrats helped nail several hundred planks Into their party platform over the weekend, and many of them felt it was a dull process. They were among about 900 other Democrats from around the state who were authorized to represent their counties at the ninth biennial Democratic convention at Willamette University In Salem. "It Is duller than previous conventions," said Marge King, head of the Benton delegation.

"Dull," said JoAnne Anderson, a veteran of several conventions, when asked to rate the session. "There isnTas much controversy, as much disagreement, as much emotion as at previous conventions," King said. Analysis The reasons, perhaps, were because there wasn't much new la the concepts written Into the platforms that stressed Individual rights and were antl-blg basinets. gone, say Benton Demos should be accompanied by stated reasons for them; policy standards should be established so prisoners may know the basis on which they are to be judged." The delegates opposed the initiative to restore the death penalty in Oregon and supported repeal of the state's an-tiobscenity laws. Growing marijuana should be treated as a violation similar to a traffic ticket and not as a crime, the platform says.

Another item favors abolition of the U.S. Subversive Activities Control Board and the U.S. House Internal Security Committee. Compensation of crime victims and repeal of laws regarding victimless crimes were supported. Abortion on demand without parental consent and registration of handguns were supported.

Several statements supporting In agree on all of the planks. Perhaps of most importance to Benton County was the Education platform. State Sen. Clifford Trow, D-Corvallis, was chairman of the committee. However, he said he did not agree with all of the planks that were written into the platform.

He cited one that said, "Students la higher education should be allowed to organise and bargain collectively with administration." He was unsure how the organization would be formed and felt that, if one was formed, it should bargain with the State Board of Higher Education. The platform calls for higher education salaries in Oregon to be "competitive with institutions outside the state." An effort to add the words "consistent with budgetary and tuition constraints," failed to be adopted. It also says, "School employes and their families are entitled to fringe benefits at least comparable to those generally prevalent with employes in in And perhaps the delegates themselves had mellowed over the years. There were not as many young radicals as in the past. King said, and they were probably older on the average than those who attended the Democratic conventions that date back to 1960.

On top of that, the Importance of tip appears minimal. While they outline the beliefs of the party at least officially the platforms contained planks that were opposed by many of the delegates. The delegates also voted down a proposal that only those candidates who backed the platforms would be supported by the party. "If the Democratic candidates have to support every plank, you'll see a lot of Republicans in the legislature," said one Democratic legislator. The planks originated at the county level when party representatives met several weeks ago to suggest planks for the 10 platforms.

Friday night the platform committees met to incorporate the suggestions into the platforms. Even the members of (Tie committees did not.