The California Assembly Judiciary Committee will consider AB 654
today, a bill legalizing doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill
patients. Recent polls show the majority of Californians support
such a measure, and it’s time for the Legislature to listen
to the people on this issue.
Called the California Compassionate Choices Act, the bill is
modeled after Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, which allows
terminally ill patients to legally receive a lethal drug
prescription.
Unfortunately, the bill is opposed by powerful lobbies including
the Catholic church and various pro-life groups.
Other opponents fear that legalizing suicide will motivate
doctors and patients to turn to $50 lethal prescriptions as an
alternative to expensive treatments.
Concerns about the ease of suicide are valid, but like the
Oregon law, multiple safeguards are designed to protect those who
consider voluntary death.
First, only patients with full mental faculty and a terminal
diagnosis can receive the prescription, and they must be expected
to die within six months.
To protect patients who are not sure they want to die, the bill
requires that patients be made aware of other options such as
comfort care, hospice care and pain control. Patients must also
wait at least 15 days before a pharmacy can dispense the medicine
to fill their prescription.
The bill also requires that the terminal condition be confirmed
by at least one other consulting physician.
The Oregon bill has not led to an epidemic of pointless
suicides. Last year, only 37 people chose to use lethal drugs to
end their lives.
It is also important to note that the California bill does not
authorize doctors to “actively” kill patients. It
simply allows patients to legally acquire drugs which they
themselves administer to end their lives.
The Field Poll, which the Los Angeles Times reports has surveyed
hundreds of Californians multiple times since 1976, “found
that 70 percent of Californians supported physician-assisted
suicide for the terminally ill.”
State legislatures are understandably wary of this touchy
subject ““ but they should not let a vocal minority of
Californians who oppose the bill win out.
This bill will give the terminally ill the right to die
peacefully and without the pain they often experience on a daily
basis.
Death is an inevitable part of all life, and this bill, along
with the Terri Schiavo controversy, reminds us all of the fragility
of life. As college students, it is hard to think about our own
mortality, but planning for the worst is a responsibility we should
tackle at a young age.
This bill is an important step in reforming how the state
interacts with personal decisions of mortality ““ but
individuals must also be proactive. Everyone should complete a
living will ““ particularly UCLA students with numerous
resources, including the on-campus Student Legal Services.
Issues of individual mortality should be personal, but unless
you explicitly outline your wishes, they can easily leave your
control.