Hiding in the shadows behind all of our end-of-life (EOL) discussions about the desire to maintain an acceptable quality of life is the issue of adequate health care, which is basic to a right to live. Many of us believe that there can be no "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" without a right to adequate medical care.
If you thought that the safeguards prescribed by Oregon's medical assistance in dying (MAID) law, and the similar laws in eight other jurisdictions, are too onerous, there are others to consider.
A 30-year old Florida Supreme Court decision may provide support for the use of a dementia directive that provides for voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED).
As coronavirus cases increase worldwide, institutions keep their communities informed with frequent updates—but only up to a point. They share minimal information such as number of cases, but omit the names of individuals and identifying information, raising issues of privacy vs. transparency, which may be a life or death concern.
A letter to the New York Times by FEN Board President Brian Ruder
Slippery slope arguments deny rationality, moral precepts, and legal principles. Few of us who believe in a right to die go beyond the formulation of this right as a voluntary decision of one person about that person's life. The view that no one has the right to take from us the liberty to make such decisions to end our lives except ourselves appears to be the norm in this society for those who are near the end of their lives because of disease or condition. Voluntariness is inextricably bound up with the decision to die to escape suffering near the end of life.
A brief look at suicide historically, philosophically, constitutionally, legally, and practically as a right to all who value liberty.
Last week, I referred a caller to the Final Exit Network (FEN) to John B. Kelly, a Not Dead Yet opponent of right-to-die (RTD) laws. The person was inquiring on behalf of his brother (I'll call him Carl) about the education and training services that FEN offers to applicants who want to hasten their deaths. The brother was trying to learn if FEN could help Carl, who was despairing of his condition.
A FEN Coordinator discusses how FEN works and explains who FEN can and cannot help.
This post looks critically at the view that Medical Aid In Dying (MAID) is not a human right.
