Author Topic: California Governor Jerry Brown Signs Hard-Won Right-to-Die Legislation  (Read 4764 times)

rcjordan

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"Brown, a lifelong Catholic and former Jesuit seminarian, announced he signed the legislation after thoroughly considering all opinions and discussing the issue with many people, including a Catholic bishop and two of Brown's doctors."

"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."

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/California-Governor-Signs-Right-To-Die-Legislation--330745292.html

littleman

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Re: California Governor Jerry Brown Signs Hard-Won Right-to-Die Legislation
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2015, 05:03:27 AM »
This is a good thing.

rcjordan

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Australian scientist and right-to-die advocate David Goodall chose to end his life with a lethal injection on Thursday. He was 104.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/right-to-die-advocate-david-goodall-ends-life-listening-to-ode-to-joy_us_5af48316e4b00d7e4c1886c0

Note the slight twist in terms & presentation; "right-to-die" versus "assisted suicide"

'This is taking an awfully long time!', says scientist before assisted suicide

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-euthanasia-goodall/this-is-taking-an-awfully-long-time-says-scientist-before-assisted-suicide-idUSKBN1IB2A7

rcjordan

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New Jersey law allows terminally ill to get life-ending meds | Fox News
https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-jersey-law-allows-terminally-ill-to-get-life-ending-meds

<added>
"In addition to California and Oregon, Colorado, Hawaii, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia all have similar legislation. Montana does not have a law permitting medically assisted suicide for the terminally ill. However, a 2009 Montana Supreme Court ruling determined that nothing in state law prevented a physician from prescribing such a drug to terminally ill person."
« Last Edit: April 12, 2019, 11:06:21 PM by rcjordan »

littleman

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This one is sort of like legalized pot, it is going to eventually be law in all 50 states but it may take a generation or two.

littleman

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This was locked for some reason. 


ergophobe

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I honestly have mixed feelings about right to die laws.

I really, really, really want this option if I'm in a terminal situation and physically unable to just go jump off a cliff (and now that I know the people who clean up after someone jumps off a cliff, I realize it is not a kind thing to do).

On the other hand, I do worry about a society that sanctions killing people for illness - is it a slippery slope?

On the third hand, medical technology has gotten so good at postponing death (I do not say "prolonging life") that we have made end of life cruel beyond our forefathers' imaginations and this seems to redress that imbalance some.

I wonder what some of the more religious people in the forum think about this.

DrCool

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>>some of the more religious people in the forum think about this

OK, here it goes. Our pastor gave a GREAT sermon on this topic a few years back so I don't remember all the particulars but it came down to the sanctity of life. Of course all life is terminal so everyone will die at some point. If there is a terminal disease and a bunch of treatment will extend life for a few more months I don't think it is wrong to refuse the treatment and end things faster. But I don't think there is a Biblical option for knowingly ending your life. So there is no mandate to  necessarily artificially extend life but there is no room for artificially ending it either.

I don't know all the particulars about these laws but defining "terminal" is so difficult. The example of the lady in that NJ article is a great case. She is only 56 and it seems like she still has a number of years where she will be mentally capable of living a "good" life. Is being confined to a wheelchair and needing oxygen enough to warrant ending her life? I don't think so but I am sure there would be a doctor somewhere that would say yes. There are too many "what ifs" to make laws like this good.

littleman

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Four people I was close to died in the last six months.  I was up close and personal with two during their process of dying.  The natural path can be brutal.  While visiting my Uncle I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said "shoot me in the head".   If it were legal I would have done it.  I understand religious conviction keeping people from wanting to bypass the final days, and for those getting semi-comatose on morphine is an option, yet often a lot is lost in that process, freedom, dignity and self.

I think the standard of terminal to use is the one that hospice usually use, six months or less.

ergophobe

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Thanks. You two encapsulate the conflict I feel personally, as I mentioned in my previous post.

rcjordan

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ergophobe

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Re: California Governor Jerry Brown Signs Hard-Won Right-to-Die Legislation
« Reply #12 on: August 02, 2019, 06:51:37 PM »
That is one of my biggest fears. Nobody wants that for themselves, the home director admits they are water boarding him every few hours, and yet there he is. It is a cruelty only possible in a modern technophilic medical system

littleman

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rcjordan

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Re: California Governor Jerry Brown Signs Hard-Won Right-to-Die Legislation
« Reply #14 on: October 23, 2019, 07:39:08 PM »
Paralympian Merieke Vervoort euthanized after years of deteriorating condition - UPI.com
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/10/23/Paralympian-Merieke-Vervoort-euthanized-after-years-of-worsening-condition/6651571845253/

> "Do Not Resuscitate" Order

Interestingly, I found out that DNR orders are somewhat ethnic is the US.  My daughter, admin of a large, progressive nursing home, says you will rarely find a black patient with a DNR.