I-1000 Death with Dignity

Countless times people have fought so hard for a never-ending battle of life vs. death, and too often death is the one that wins this battle. People on their last six months to live have to suffer through what is a horribly painfull ordeal. They are most of the time bed-ridden and in pain. Why not give these people a choice? Why not let them go without pain or suffering? These people deserve better. These people deserve their dignity.

 

These patients that want to overdose aren’t just average people. They have to be terminally ill with sex months to live. This is almost warrants that the patien will not be able to survive so that if they are in too much pain, they will be able to consult a doctor to end their life. Its their life, it should be their decesion, not that of the government. Also, in terms of safety, the patient has to go through two different doctors to be ok. The patient and a 14 day waiting period to think about if this is really the right choice for them. Also, if the doctors determinethis patient is clinically depressed, then that patient has to go  has to go through a phsiciatrist and go through counseling before the medication is prescribed for them. This normally is a very peacefull death because it on average takes 25 minutes to die and during this time they can have their family with them or have a peaceful quiet time.

 

Tony miller is a man who traveled the world seeing new things and living the way he wanted to live and writing about his life. Now, because of his prostate cancer, he has to stay in a box of a home in oregen all cooped up and stuck. He has to change three times a day because of how much he sweats. He moved to oregen because of their death with dignity law. When asked about the opportunity to put this is law into action, he said “I will keep living but when the pain becomes too much, I will use it”. Tony is just like many people in oregon or who have moved to Oregon because they don’t want to live a life that is full of pain and sadness.

 

 

If passed, initiative 1000 would be a horrible law. Life is a gift, and should never be willfully destroyed, as I-1000 proposes. This initiative would allow people who are considered terminally ill to end their life prematurely, without even so much as notification of their families. Very few spouses would want to learn that their husband or wife had killed themselves, without even discussing it over with them. A suicide not only destroys the life of the victim, but also the lives touched by the victim as well. For example, a young girl killed herself due to mental depression. After the death, her parents divorced and Dad became an alcoholic, losing his job and gambling away his life savings. There are many stories like this, and making assisted suicide a legal practice would only increase these types of tragedies.

 

Chris Carlson, 65, was told in early 2005 that he had six months to live. Now, in 2008, Carslon is fighting against I-1000, death with dignity. He says that doctors are often wrong when predicting life expectancy. He would know this first hand, as he has lived almost 18 wonderful months more than expected.  This should tell people that no matter how much you trustu your doctor, he can be wrong. A person can due unbelievable things when there is a strong will to survive. Some people even embrace their time period and try to make the most of it, instead of sitting and waiting for their death to come.  For example, Duane French is very much paralyzed, and very much against I-1000 as well. While people have told French that they would “rather be dead than suffer like he is,” French is determined to make the most of what he has. He admits that at first he was suicidal, but “you come through that,” he says. “Every moment of life is precious”. He is arguing against sending people to an early, unnatural death because he understands the joys of life, even in a wheel chair or hospital bed.

 

While the numbers of cases of physician-assisted suicides continue to rise each year, with over 350 cases in the last year alone, fewer than 100 doctors are involved in writing the prescriptions. One doctor in opposition to the law says he “believes in death with dignity, but not in empowering doctors to give massive overdoses so that patients can kill themselves.”  In washington, doctors would not be able to physically administer the drugs, only write the prescription. However, a family member would be able to help the patient take the drugs if the patient is too weak to take the medication by themselves. This puts a great stress on the family member, who is assisting a suicide, which is also an illegal act. To sum things up, death by a prescribed overdose should not be considered a death with dignity, it is suicide. 

Konner and Michael