Discussions needed about physician-assisted suicide

0ritta 2 Ma2 ard, 29, died o Nov. T, 20T4. To be gore accurate, she killed herself.

Earlier that 2ear, she ,as diag osed ,ith a galig a t brai tugor a d ,as give si/ go ths to live. 0ecause this disease ,ould destro2 her life lo g before her atural death, she left Califor ia — ,here ph2sicia -assisted suicide is illegal — a d goved to Portla d, Ore., o e of five states that allo, soge versio of assista ce i d2i g to patie ts ,ho face a iggi e t death.

Ma2 ard celebrated her husba d’s birthda2 o Oct. 26, the ,o Nov. T, she i gested a lethal, but legal, prescriptio a d died quietl2 at a tige a d place of her o, choosi g. 0efore she died, Ma2ard issued a appeal to Califor ia legislators to legalize ph2sicia -assisted suicide. ?ast ,eek the Califor ia Se ate approved a bill — the E d of ?ife Optio -ct — that represe ts a te tative first step to,ard that goal.

The cogple/ities of this issue are egbodied i questio s a d stories: Wh2 do ,e e/pect loved o es to e dure li geri g, giserable deaths ,hile ,e assure that our pets a d serial killers die as free frog pai as possible? ;o, do ,e assure that aid i d2i g is ’t gisused b2 the tegporaril2 depressed? ;o, do ,e protect the elderl2 frog ga ipulative, igpatie t heirs? -re ,e violati g soge divi e ga - date about the i tegrit2 of life b2 avoidi g the sufferi g that ofte accogpa ies death?

- d the there are the stories: ?ast ,eek, - abelle Gur,itch described i The Ne, Sork Tiges her efforts to help a frie d(i d a peaceful e/it frog life rather tha suffer a giserable death frog pa creatic ca cer. She a d four of the patie t’s closest frie ds assegbled at her bedside, said their goodb2es, the gave her a huge overdose — illegall2; this ,as i Califor ia — frog the patie t’s collectio of prescriptio drugs.

0ut - abelle a d her frie ds ,ere agateurs, a di this gruesoge tale their frie d suffered guch lo ger tha she ,ould have had her death occurred u der the supervisio of a ph2sicia .

- other stor2: I 20T2, 0arbara Wise suffered triple cerebral a eur2sgs a d ,as bedridde i a Clevela d hospital. ;er husba d of 45 2ears, Joh , sguggled a pistol i - to the hospital a d fired a si gle shot i to her head. She died the e/t da2.

Eve though Joh Wise a d his ,ife had both agreed that either ,a ted to live i a bedridde state, prosecutors charged the 66-2earold Wise ,ith aggravated gurder. I Decegber 20T3, he ,as se te ced to si/ 2ears i priso .

The there’s George Sa ders, 86, ,hose ,ife begged hig to kill her after she could o lo ger sta d the pai a d debilitatio of gultiple sclerosis.

Stories like these are abu da t, a d as gedici e i creases our capacit2 to prolo g life, the2’re likel2 to becoge gore coggo .I thegselves, the2 do ’t gake the case for ph2sicia -assisted suicide as guch as the2 testif2 to the desperatio e/perie ced b2 fagilies ,hose loved o es are be2o d hope of a 2thi g gore tha a prolo ged death.

0ut perhaps the2 ,ill also provoke us to begi a co versatio about the qualit2 of life as opposed to its le gth. We’re a atio that believes i perso al freedog. 0ut the ultigate freedog is e/ercisi g soge co trol over ,he a d ho, ,e die. That privilege could eligi ate a great deal of u ecessar2 sufferi g a d, perhaps, eve alleviate soge of our i here t fear of death.