‘Medical aid in dying’ has been amply vetted

Dear Editor: Re: “Cahill presses for NY state study of assisted suicide,” Feb. 13, 2019:

I understand that Assemblyman Kevin Cahill wants assurance that the Medical Aid in Dying Act will work as intended. However, there is no need for another study.

I can state with certainty that a cumulative half-century of experience with medical aid in dying in states where it is authorized and two days of legislative hearings in New York have fully explored any issues or questions. Medical-aid-indying laws, in fact, work as intended. Patients benefit, and no harm is caused.

The Medical Aid in Dying Act, patterned after laws in other states, has numerous, very adequate safeguards. New York doctors support it by a margin of 67-19 percent; New York citizens by 63-29 percent.

The process is not assisted suicide. Suicides are committed by people who could continue to live. They generally have a mental illness and end their lives in isolation, often impulsively and violently. They are tragic. “Medical aid in dying” is only for dying patients and entails a thoughtful process involving oral and written requests, consultation with two doctors and almost always family involvement.

It is empowering to patients and families. It is not suicide according to the American Association of Suicidology, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, American Public Health Association, and the laws that have been enacted across the country.

Dying patients should have the option of medical aid in dying. David Leven

Pelham

The writer is executive director emeritus of the of End of Life Choices New York.