Does California have a right to die law?
Q
Dad is still of good mind. He can reason, make decisions, but has been very depressed and is physically in a bad way. He has an illness that is gradually depriving him of motor control and he is expected to die within 6 to 12 months. He has expressed a desire to end his life. Is there a right to die in California?
A
My thoughts are with you, your family and your dad. It is difficult, if not impossible, to grasp what all must be involved in that decision.
What I can indicate is that in 2016, the California End of Life Option Act went into effect and was then revised in 2022. The law permits a terminally ill adult, who is a California resident, to request a medication from his or her physician that will bring an end to his or her life. There is a form for the individual to fill out, which is to be witnessed and which requires certain information. In addition, there are attending physician forms that must be submitted. A very helpful link online about the process and the forms is available through the California Department of Public Health: cdph.ca.gov/Programs/ CHSI/Pages/End-of-LifeOption-Act-.aspx. I encourage you to review that link. Further, consultation with counsel or another qualified professional is prudent as well.
Q
I am having an operation that probably is not life threatening, but among the items they ask me to answer is whether I have an advanced health care directive. Please explain what this is and why I am to answer.
A
There invariably is quite a bit of paperwork for you to sign, and in some instances initial, before undergoing surgery. Part of this relates to risks attendant to the surgical procedure (including if you are anesthetized). Some, like the advanced health care directive, tie into those risks, but also provide useful and very critical information to the facility, staff and physician(s).
The advanced health care directive is addressed at California Probate Code 4701. Here is a quote from that section which speaks for itself: “You have the right to give instructions about your own physical and mental health care.
You also have the right to name someone else to make those health care decisions for you. This form lets you do either or both of these things. It also lets you express your wishes regarding donation of organs and the designation of your primary physician.”
The Advanced Health Care Directive Form at Section 4701 can be utilized by you as is, or modified, or you can use a different form, but bottom line it covers “directives” about your health, both physical and mental. The surgery facility, staff and physician want and need to know (if not be assured) you have that in place.
On Dec. 11, NASA engineers anxiously gathered at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena to view a cat video, wondering if it would be in the pristine high definition for which they had hoped.
To their relief, it was. For the first time, high-definition video this one of a lab employee’s cat named Taters was streamed from 18.6 million miles away, or roughly 80 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon, the farthest ever.
The demonstration was part of NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications experiment, aimed at improving the infrastructure for communication beyond the Earth’s orbit. As one example, if humans are to go to Mars, the need exists for larger amounts of data to be transmitted over a longer distance. This demonstration marked another step toward such a possibility.
“This would be like the same capability that you’d want to have if you’re sending an astronaut to the surface of Mars or something like that,” said Dr. Abhijit Biswas, the project technologist. “You want to have constant contact with them.”
The demonstration was done with the help of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, which was launched on Oct. 13 with the aim of exploring an asteroid with the same name. The deep space experiment is using laser communications, as opposed to traditional radio frequencies, in an attempt to transfer large gobs of data at faster rates over greater distances. (The video is of Taters chasing a laser pointer. In 1928, a statue of the cartoon character Felix the Cat was used to test television transmissions.)
The transmitted data rates of 267 megabits per second are comparable to rates on Earth, which are often between 100 and 300 megabits per second. But Biswas urged caution about the results of the demonstration.
“This is the first step,” he said. “There’s still significant requirements for ground infrastructure and things like that to take something that’s kind of a proof of concept to transform it into something that’s operational and reliable.”
The video was transmitted using a flight laser transceiver, one of several pieces of new hardware being deployed for the first time. The Deep Space Optical Communications system is made up of three parts: the transceiver, which was installed on board the Psyche spacecraft, and two components on Earth: a ground laser transmitter (roughly a 90-minute drive from the laboratory) and a ground laser receiver at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego County.
“It’s a little mind-blowing right there that you’re able to do all that in the end,” said Dr. Meera Srinivasan, the project’s operations lead.
Biswas and Srinivasan, along with other NASA engineers, have been working to develop this technology for decades. The focus was to scale up the optical communications technology that was already being used on satellites orbiting much closer to Earth. Initially, before the Psyche mission, the team hit roadblocks because the signal was too weak. So NASA developed technologies to extend the capabilities. Deep space, Biswas said, was “the new frontier.”
To begin the process for the cat video, the ground transmitter first sent up the laser beam. The aim had to be precise. Psyche then locked on to that signal and sent the content, which had been preloaded by the NASA team, back down to the receiver. For the transmission to work, it needed to be done during a cloudfree night, which would allow a proper line of sight.
“There’s many little steps,” Biswas said. “Each one has to fall in place at the right time. And that’s the terrifying part because we’re doing it for the first time. This hasn’t been done before. It’s not like, ‘Oh, we know if you do this, that’ll happen.’ We’re kind of working our way through all these things.”
He added: “And then once it all works, it seems like it’s so easy. Why were we worried in the first place?”
Now, the project is to test their limits. At the end of June, the NASA engineers expect to be able to transmit from a distance that is 10 times farther: 186 million miles.
Taters won’t be making anymore appearances, according to JPL.
Joby Harris, an art director in JPL’s DesignLab, couldn’t be prouder, but doesn’t want his cat’s newfound celebrity to go to his head.
“I’m celebrating his spotlight with him, but making sure he keeps his paws on the carpet,” Harris said in an email Tuesday.