Should it be considered illegal for a terminally-ill patient to take his/her own life when death is expected to knock anytime soon? California, together with four other states, disagrees as it legalized "assisted suicide" last year for patients who are on the brink of death.
In October 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the "End of Life Act." The governor said he took into consideration diverse perspectives including religious beliefs before he decided to officially pass the law allowing assisted suicide. (via NPR).
"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," Gov. Brown said in a statement as quoted by NPR.
More than a year after, California officially puts the law into effect, giving a 16 percent of the U.S. population an option for assisted suicide. Oregon was the change maker being the first state to pass such legislation, which was soon followed by Washington, Vermont and Montana (via The New York Times).
These states met a number of terminally-ill patients who took medication that will kill them. From 16 people who legally requested for assisted suicide on 1998 at Oregon, it grew to 132 opportunity takers in 2015 (via The New York Times).
While the fate seems entirely driven by the patient's choice, this assisted suicide law has stringent measures. In California, patients should prove that their decision is voluntary and had gone through a painstaking thought process. Two California doctors must present a six-month life expiration before the medicines could be prescribed to an interested patient (via NPR).
The intent for assisted suicide should be made known 48 hours before the actual act. And like how babies go to this world alone, adults leave the world alone too as the person should take the drugs without any help (via SF Gate).
Many right-to-death advocates rejoiced last year upon the completion of the California law but today, another problem concerning the law on assisted suicide surfaces. Many hospitals in the state have yet to release policies that will make assisted suicide more accessible. Also, any person from the medical field has his/her own right to say no to a patient, even having the liberty to not recommend a physician who would agree (via The New York Times).
Columnist David Lazarus of Los Angeles Times expects many hospitals to decline prescribing drugs that will kill terminally-ill patients, especially religious-affiliated health institutions. Secular hospitals have an easier decision in comparison but they also have concerns on assisted suicide such as dealing with healthcare's mandate to preserve life than to end it.
For instance, secular hospital, Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena is complying with the law for the meantime until its board makes a final decision. "We are being thoughtful and deliberate in our process and will therefore not restrict ourselves to a set timeline," spokesman Derek Clarke said in an email to Los Angeles Times.
As per New York Times, Palliative Medicine Specialist at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California, Dr. Sunita Puri acknowledges that assisted suicide is a relatively "new territory." This explains why most physicians are reluctant to prescribe it to their patients.
“My sense of talking to colleagues is they simply don’t know enough about what the medication will be, and part of it is not knowing if it is resulting in a comfortable experience that leads to their death. They take very seriously the obligation to support patients and not do something harmful. The other reason is that people feel very uncomfortable about what this act means for the changing role of physicians in society, what would be right for patients and what would be appropriate for them to do.”
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