We welcome but don’t cheer End of Life Option Act
Last week, California joined five states that permit people facing certain, painful and often undignified deaths to take control of their fate.
We don’t celebrate this milestone. But we are thankful it has arrived.
Gov. Jerry Brown last October signed legislation by Sens. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, and Bill Monning, D-Carmel, allowing doctors to voluntarily prescribe lethal doses of drugs to people who are of sound mind but are in their final days.
In signing the bill, the governor reflected the ambivalence felt by many Californians: “I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”
The California Medical Association was neutral on the measure, which is modeled on a law that has been in place in Oregon since 1997. But although no doctor or hospital will be required to assist in anyone’s death, many people in the medical profession remain opposed. So, too, do some people based on their religious beliefs, and some disability rights activists, who fear terminally ill people will feel pressured to end their lives for financial or other reasons.
“Through our health care professionals and the care and compassion of all people of goodwill, we will continue to lovingly attend, accompany and care for the terminally ill on their final journey,” the California Catholic Conference of Bishops said in a statement.
We respect opponents’ views. However, nothing in the law compels terminally ill people to hasten their demise, and numerous safeguards are written into the End of Life Option Act. There must be second opinions, for example, and assurances that people seeking prescriptions are competent.
Wealth, or lack of it, should not dictate whether terminally ill adults can end their lives on their own terms, when the time comes. And although no federal money can be used for aid in dying services, Brown’s proposed budget includes $2.3 million in state tax funds for the coming year for what the administration calls “end of life” services.
Based on Oregon’s experience, 1,476 Californians will request aid in dying in the coming year. Of that number, 30 percent, or 443, would be covered by Medi-Cal, and eligible for state assistance, the budget calculates.
Unless individuals let their decisions be known, the public will never know who seeks aid in dying, which is as it should be. People deserve privacy on such intensely personal matters.
However, the California Department of Public Health must issue annual reports detailing the number of people for whom lethal drugs have been prescribed, the number of doctors who issue the prescriptions, the number of people who die on their own terms, and details about them, including their age, race, underlying illnesses and educational level.
Too many people have died excruciating deaths for lack of humane alternatives. Some have decided to leave their homes and travel to Oregon to die. And many family members have been arrested for carrying out the final wishes of a loved one. That will change. Californians can now opt to end their lives on their own terms, and that is worthy of note.
This story was originally published June 12, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "We welcome but don’t cheer End of Life Option Act."