Discussion for article #241414
I love my Governor. This is great news. Now when I feel my time has come I don’t have to travel to Oregon or the Netherlands.
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I’m proud of my governor (the former Jesuit) and the Democratic legislature for taking this step, but sure as shit somebody’s going to call them death panels before the day is out.
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Opponents said the bill legalizes premature suicide
As opposed to right on schedule suicide?
What a whacked out bit of wording there AP.
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Thanks for pointing that out. I didn’t read the article = just the headline because I have been waiting for this decision to come down.
“Pope Francis invites all of us to create our good society by seeing through the eyes of those who are on the margins, those in need economically, physically, psychologically and socially,”
Institutionalized religion Rosetta Stone: “But but but…Dead people pay no tithes!!!”
We can play that game with the abortion debate too.
Or like an uncle with late stage emphysema, blow your brains out in the back garden. It took years for the family to get over that horrible scene. They didn’t begrudge him the wish to skip the last months of suffocation and pain, but the method of departure was traumatic for the survivors.
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Is comparing the ability to put a sick dog out of her misery by euthanizing her on a par with choosing to die with dignity? I’m not sure, but having gone through that experience just a year ago, I’m grateful that I could do that for her because palliative care was at best a band aid and only prolonged the decision.
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The church in this case needs to butt out. They seem to imply that the poor will be railroaded into suicide when the law specifically requires that be precluded by multiple requests. More likely the poor can’t afford the suicide drugs.
I guarantee this new law will be abused. Of course when the victim is dead and his doctor and a family member agree, who’s going to say, “but the patient was coerced into it by an old folks home that wanted to make better rent on his bed.” If you live in a home, they control every aspect of your life from the food you eat, the drugs you get, the drugs you don’t get, and the daily humiliations you must endure. It would be pretty easy to convince a patient who gets too expensive to care for that they want to die.
On the other hand, we’ve been euthanizing people with morphine for decades. Terminally ill and unconscious? Turn up the morphine drip, stop providing water, and wait for death.
I would suggest that you read the Oregon law upon which this bill was based. You’ll quickly discover that there are multiple safeguards in the process to prevent the issues that you suspect will occur. If, however, you held a terminal diagnosis as I do, and knew that there was a fair chance your dying could well involved months of terrible pain, or alternatively, months of lying in a bed being utterly comatose due to the drugs used to dull (but not eliminate) the pain then perhaps you would understand the need for this measure. In truth I could choose to die at any time, although I’m in no rush at the moment. The law only really makes two changes.
The first is that I don’t have to choose a really messy method. No gunshot to the head, no jumping off a bridge, no process that involves massive physical trauma.
The second is that I can share my decision, and my final moments, surrounded by those who love me. Without the law, my family must be miles away and unaware of my plans lest they be criminally charged. I can say goodbye in a calm and loving environment, and I won’t have to die alone.
I’d suggest you look both at the reality of the law, and at the reality of its usage. In Oregon, many who are eligible get the written prescription, but never fill it. Many more fill the prescription, but never use it. However, the mere fact that it’s available provides an amazing level of comfort in those final days.