Debbie Ziegler holds a photo of her late daughter,
Brittany Maynard, after the California State Assembly
approved a right-to-die measure on Sept 9. Maynard
died on Nov. 1, 2014. Photo by Rich Pedroncelli/AP
Photo by Rich Pedroncelli/AP
NPR Reports:
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark legislation Monday, allowing terminally ill patients to obtain lethal medication to end their lives when and where they choose.
In a deeply personal note, Brown said he read opposition materials carefully, but in the end was left to reflect on what he would want in the face of his own death.
"I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain," he wrote. "I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn't deny that right to others."
One of the key co-authors of the legislation, state Sen. Bill Monning, a Democrat from Carmel, Calif., said the signing "marks a historic day in California" and called the governor's thoughts "a powerful statement."
Brown's signature concludes a hotly contested, 10-month debate that elicited impassioned testimony from lawmakers, cancer patients who fear deaths marked by uncontrollable pain and suffering, and religious and disability advocates who fear ...
...The full text of the National Public Radio [NPR] article can be found at:
HCF Members: What do you think about this new law?
Replies
The real problem is how it all gets "politicized" into talking points instead of discussing the real ways that it affects people who are dying. I heard on a Portland 'conservative' radio where they were saying the government would be guilt-ing people into taking their own lives, by pressuring them to spare their families the hardships (and thus saving the system money). Total crap. On the other side you hear people call for choice and how it's a 'right' to die, also crap. One side uses 'suicide', the other uses 'dignity'.
Entering a Hospice program has the same initial criteria as getting a lethal prescription; you must have a terminal illness and less than six months to live. However, one big advantage of entering Hospice is that you are not actually dead! This is a best-guess effort to determine the timeline, and I can tell you that as a Hospice volunteer I have had several people outlast the six month prognosis, and some even go off Hospice for months before returning again. The statistics (NHPCO) show that around 15% of Hospice patients are "discharged alive", meaning they are too well to be on it.
I am in favor of Hospice as the way to go. BUT - I am wise enough to know that I myself may one day wish I had the option. There are lots of really bad outcomes that are painful and a horrible way to spend days, weeks, or months dying. I vote on the side of making it / keeping it legal, and that the best way to combat misuse of the law is to provide great information on palliative and hospice care and practices, and to keep enough safeguards that we remain accountable.
Final note is - use the data. There is enough fear mongering and opinions, let's use the data that has been collected over the last 20 years and not just assume things will degrade into a worse-case scenario. Not everything is a slippery-slope people.
I had someone tell me that few people who get the prescription actually use it, so I thought I would google for some facts. Turns out that is not true, about two thirds of all who get it - use it.
From a CNN article;
According to the 2015 evaluation report, since 1997, prescriptions have been written for 1,327 people and 859 patients have died from ingesting the drugs that were legally prescribed to them under the law. Similar results in Washington.
We should also consider the numbers there - in over fifteen years only 859 people have actually taken the option, out of nearly 200,000 deaths of people over the age of 45 in Oregon during that same period. Hard to make a case.
Now, if you are making your argument based on religious belief, then nothing anyone says matters, and there is no point in discussing it further.
A terribly sad day for end-of-life care and the continuation of an unfortunate trend at the state level. Gov. Brown's statement really summarizes the false choices that are usually presented in favor of assisted suicide: that there's either uncontrollable pain and suffering on the one hand, or "death with dignity" on the other. But we know that with proper care, no one should have to suffer intractable pain, whether it is physical, spiritual or emotional. That this legislation has passed is a clear indication that overall we still have not been able to offer the best care possible to people with life-threatening illnesses. The only good thing to come out of this, I believe, is that perhaps it will make end-of-life discussions more palatable in our death-denying culture.
Governor Brown's quoted thoughts echo my own: I do not know what I would choose in the face of an excruciating and debilitating terminal illness, but I would like the choice to be mine (and my family's). I support this legislation.