Local politics is about families, and there are few more storied political families in Hawaii than the Heens.
The political lineage started with William "Billy" Heen, named as a Circuit Court judge by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917. He later became a territorial senator.
The family went on producing members of Hono-lulu government, the Democratic Party and state political circles.
Walter Heen was on the City Council, the territorial House, the Circuit Court and the state Intermediate Court of Appeals.
Walter’s brother is Ernest Heen Jr., known to all as "Juggie." He picked up the nickname from a cousin who never could say "Junior."
Juggie Heen served in the state House for a term and then represented the people living in Kahana Valley as the "konohiki" or agent.
Now at 82, Heen is involved in a new campaign.
"My Life. My Death. My Choice," reads the headline for an ad campaign featuring Heen, who has both pancreatic and liver cancer.
The campaign, sponsored by Compassion and Choices Hawaii, is dubbed "Join Juggie."
Heen wants people to understand that they do have a choice in end-of-life decisions.
"There is a group of doctors who are willing to assist people in managing their ends of lives. Anyone who is suffering now needs the assistance to guide them through the end of life," says Heen.
"They need to be in the hands of a doctor to get the palliative care and understand what their choices are."
Heen, who was honored at last weekend’s state Democratic convention in Waikiki, reports that he feels strong now, but understands that things can change.
"At this stage, I don’t have any pain; there is no malfunctioning of the organs. I suppose I am just waiting until something does start malfunctioning and then confer with my doctors, who have been willing to assist me through the end of life," Heen said in an interview Monday.
The request Heen is making with the Compassion and Choice organization, part of a national campaign for compassionate end-of-life care, is mostly to ask that government stay away.
"It is a private situation, it is really," said Heen.
The local group is basing its guidance on a 1909 Hawaii law that they interpret to mean physicians have broad discretion when treating terminally ill patients.
The law says that when a doctor says a "person affected with any disease hopeless and beyond recovery and gives a written certificate to that effect to the person affected or the person’s attendant, nothing herein shall forbid any person from giving any remedial agent or measure when so requested by or on behalf of the affected person."
"I would ask the Legislature to adopt no law to outlaw the choice available in the 1909 law. Outside of that, we are not looking for anything from the government," said Heen.
Attorney General David Louie issued an opinion last year disagreeing with Compassion and Choice’s argument that palliative care could include help in dying. Louie said such action could result in a charge of man-slaughter.
The organization supporting end-of-life options disagreed.
"It is reasonable to conclude that Hawaii physicians can provide this intervention without fear of prosecution, subject to best practices," the group wrote in response to the AG opinion.
Heen has talked to his children about the real decisions he faces and said they are supportive and "very understanding."
The decision, however, is his alone.
"I am glad I have the choice. Others have told me how others have beaten cancer. I told them that is wonderful for them.
"I have a choice, if push comes to shove. I have a choice: If I decide to fight it out through pain or if I decide to end it now, there is a choice. It is wonderful knowing I do have a choice."
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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
