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As you would expect, bioethicist Wesley Smith explained passage of Washington State's assisted suicide initiative in a succinct, cut to the chase manner "The culture of death once again has the wind in its sails after being moribund, at least as to assisted suicide, since 1994," he observed at www.wesleyjsmith.com.

"There are many reasons for the loss having to do with the overwhelming financial backing from all around the world in favor of assisted suicide, to a popular former governor as spokesperson," as well as "an in-the-tank media that were full cheerleaders for the pro side," he added.

On Tuesday, Washington's Initiative 1000 won 59% voter approval, joining Oregon as the only states in the U.S. to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Physicians will now be allowed to prescribe lethal medications to "terminally ill" patients.

The new Washington law is set to take effect in July 2009 "after state regulators write rules to guide the practice," the Spokesman Review reports.

According to the Seattle Times, the forces behind Initiative 1000 are eager to press on. "Barbara Coombs Lee, president of Compassion & Choices, a national right-to-die organization based in Denver that has provided financial backing for I-1000, said her group hopes to pass similar initiatives in other states in the future, though it hasn't selected any specific states yet," the Times reported. Coombs told the newspaper, "We think the citizens of all 50 states deserve death with dignity."

There was a broad-based coalition fighting the assisting suicide initiatives that included the state Medical Association. But as is traditional in such fights proponents used the occasion to bash the Catholic Church. The comments of Robb Miller, executive director of Compassion & Choices in Washington, were typical: "The Catholic Church is a right-wing extremist organization," he told the Times.

Also as per usual proponents outspent opponents by multiples: $4.9 million to $l.6 million.

On a more optimistic note, Smith connected to a story from the Spokesman Review newspaper demonstrating that resistance is already beginning.

"While Washington voters made it legal for doctors to help terminally ill residents end their lives, opponents of the assisted suicide measure indicated Wednesday they will continue to resist the practice," the newspaper explained. "Eastern Washington's largest hospital system, Providence Health and Services, will forbid physicians from helping patients die at its hospitals, nursing homes and assisted care centers."

Reporter John Stucke quoted from a prepared statement from the owner of Sacred Heart Medical Center and Holy Family Hospital, which said, "Providence will not support physician-assisted suicide within its ministries." The statement continued, "This position is grounded in our basic values of respect for the sacredness of life, compassionate care of dying and vulnerable persons, and respect for the integrity of medical, nursing and allied health professions. We do not believe health care providers should ever be put in a position of aiding a patient in taking his or her own life."

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