Jim Carberry feels certain of one thing, and one thing only, when it comes to Question 2, the ballot measure that would legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts: Given the option, his late wife, Margie, would have used it.
“She wasn’t herself,” he says of his wife, who died of a rare cancer in 2011 at age 51. “She was ‘the patient in room 214.’ She wasn’t able to be independent. My wife was many things, but dependent on other people was not one of them.”
Comments
"The measure has drawn the fierce opposition of the Catholic Church, among other religious leaders. Opposition to Question 2 has also become a fund-raising magnet for right-wing groups who seem to view it as an element of a left-wing, pro-gay agenda. "
It's not just about gay rights; the Catholic Church and others prominent in the anti-abortion movement have been publicly and loudly opposed to granting adults some measure of control of the ends of their lives since at least the 90s because they view the logic of arguments in favor as being too damaging to their forced birth positions.
At the end Walker states " Who is anyone else to say....". Actually, when you ask someone else to participate, even by writing a prescription, you are drawing another person into YOUR very personal decision implying they also believe "it's ok" , wink, wink and providing AFFIRMATION for a complex decision. Being human sucks sometimes, it is inconvenient for us and those around us who are used to instant gratification, take out food, lottery millionaires, trophies for everyone. War? Death? Interesting that Society sends others' children to fight their wars, and yet Society expects its doctors, who can provide pain relief and treatments for most illnesses, to eliminate the unpleaseant whether it's termination of an unwanted baby in the birth canal, or euthanasia of the elderly and infirm among us. How convenient..how ..Progressive. Vote NO!
Your response is appalling. How dare you compare her decision to a selfish desire for 'instant gratification'? She had accomplished what she wished to accomplish with her life. Who are you to require she endure 5 weeks of slow starvation, instead of a quick end?
Vote YES - why should any one else decide for the patient? This is pro-choice, just as the right to abortion. It isn't up to any one else, not the family, not the church, not lawmakers, not even you, ajp-md.
I'll be 77 in a month. I wish for myself the option of terminating my life, if and when I lose all autonomy and enjoyment; (even more so if I were looking at longer than 6 months' of living in misery).
Yet, in the current political situation, I consider "Ballot Question #2", one of the issues that bring distraction from the critical issues that face us in this election.
@ajp-md - I have to agree with Kate2468, who are you to judge the right of a person to die with dignity? This woman had to starve herself because she was ready to die. Read the ballot question carefully, there is criteria that must be met before such a request is approved. I'm voting yes.
Starving to death is a very difficult and painful way to die. The decision as to ending one's life because of a terminal illness is a difficult one and it is made much worse by those who insist on imposing their views on to others. No one is forced to take a medication to end their life - but the option should be there to do so legally. If you do not want to end your life when you are terminally ill - don't do it - but the option should be available for those who wish to consider it and to do it.
Advances in science have made it possible to extend life for far longer than ever before. In response to the downside of this progress, initiatives have been developed that offer life's termination by using the "no heroic measures" options. Making one "comfortable" is a tremendous aid that can be employed in terminal illnesses. As far as I am aware, this option is available to most everyone.
You need to look into this further, because in many cases it is not possible to make someone who is terminally ill "comfortable." Metastatic cancer pain, for example, can be resistant to even powerful painkillers such as morphine and fentanyl.
Well said, FinnH - and what about the "comfortable" end-of-life phase dragging on... and on... and on...
What if you don't want the agony of not only dying, but watching your family and friends struggle to cope with your imminent death?
Choice, reason, calculated decisions should trump our current "no heroic measures" option, IMHO.
Good article. And thanks for adding WHO has been running anti-ads. I believe, as do many others including the residents of Oregon, that the Right to Die with Dignity is a human right that should be law in Massachusetts. And, voters in Massachusetts should never allow anyone's religion to become law in Massachusetts. Forcing one's religion upon others is not the American way. Religion is a personal matter, not a legal matter. I will vote "YES" for ballot Question 2. A vote "YES" allows the Right to Die with Dignity to become law in Massachusetts. Vote "YES."
I have to vote no on this question. And not because I am staunchly in favor of limiting someone's right to self determination... or self termination.
I have to vote no because, as Adrian alluded to, Doctors will barely be involved. As I understand it, Doctors will be prescribing pills that will cause death at home, unsupervised.
I watched my two grandmothers die very slow and painful deaths to cancer. Did they want it to go quickly at the end? Did I want it to go quickly? Yes on both counts. But actively taking an innocent life, including your own, is morally wrong on all counts. Euthanasia is not the same as refusing life support, feeding tubes, etc., where you can indeed make the decision to let fate take its course as quickly as possible. But having a doctor complicitly prescribe 100 pills with which to kill yourself, all by yourself, without ever alerting family or loved ones, is wrong on all kinds of levels to all parties concerned. Do you really want to read that first story in the Globe someday about the guy with ALS who chose assisted suicide, when his kids say they had no idea he wanted to take his own life and never got a chance to say goodbye? The wife in tears who thought she had her husband -- dying, but still with her -- for a few months more? Who now blames herself for not knowing? No, thank you. And No on Question 2.