Latest news with #EndofLifeOptionAct
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
The assisted dying movement is gaining momentum. These opponents are pushing back
What does it mean to die well, with dignity? The question is at the heart of the contentious debate over whether legalizing physician-assisted death for terminally ill patients is an act of compassion, upholding an individual's dignity, or a troubling step toward devaluing human life. The debate has recently returned to the spotlight in New York, where the state Assembly passed a bill in April that would allow terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live to request life-ending medication. It also came up in May, when 'Dilbert' cartoonist Scott Adams revealed that he only has a few months to live and indicated that he might take advantage of California's End of Life Option Act. New York's proposal requires confirmation from two doctors, who must verify the diagnosis and ensure the patient is mentally sound. The measure passed narrowly — 81 to 67 — after more than four hours of debate. Its fate now rests with the state Senate, where it needs 32 votes to pass and currently has 26 co-sponsors. Currently, 12 jurisdictions — including Oregon, Colorado and the District of Columbia — permit what's commonly known as 'medical assistance in dying' (MAiD) or 'assisted suicide.' On May 20, Delaware became the latest state to legalize medical assistance in dying, and at least 19 other states are considering similar laws. Canada, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands have adopted MAiD laws, some extending eligibility to people without terminal illnesses. The United Kingdom is also reviewing a similar bill, with a vote expected later in June. 'Passing this bill is about love, compassion, and reducing needless suffering. No one should have to endure agony when there is a better, humane choice available. This is not a political issue — it's a human issue, and we owe it to New Yorkers to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act,' said the bill's sponsor, Assemblymember Amy Paulin, D-Westchester, in a press release. Supporters argue that allowing patients to choose death in the face of unbearable suffering respects their dignity and autonomy. For those speaking out against the bill, legalizing physician-assisted suicide devalues life and puts vulnerable populations at risk, including people with disabilities, poor people and people with mental illness. Dr. Lydia Dugdale, a physician and ethicist at Columbia University, wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed that the debate isn't about dying well. 'It is about relieving society — government, medical systems, even families — of the responsibility to care for those who need the most help: the mentally ill, the poor, the physically disabled,' she wrote. Opponents worry about a 'slippery slope,' arguing that vague eligibility requirements could lead to the kind of expansion seen in Canada, where assisted suicide has become available to people suffering not only from terminal illness, but also from conditions like loneliness, eating disorders and mental illness. 'I cannot get through a day ... It's physical torture,' said a Canadian woman with a series of nonterminal diagnoses, whose journey seeking, and receiving, MAiD is the focus of a recent New York Times story. 'Once we go down this road, there is no going back,' said Ed Mechmann, the director of public policy at the Archdiocese of New York, speaking at a recent event in New York hosted by Communion and Liberation, a Catholic lay movement, along with other opponents of physician-assisted suicide. 'It will change the nature of health care, of living and dying forever,' Mechmann said. The terms 'physician-assisted death' or 'assisted suicide' typically refer to a medical practice in which a terminally ill person is provided a lethal dose of medication they can take to end their life. The term 'medical assistance in dying' is commonly used in U.S. and Canada policy discussions and often refers to both assisted suicide and euthanasia. Euthanasia, by contrast, involves a medical professional administering a life-ending medication, typically by injection, at the patient's request. Euthanasia is not legal in the states that have legalized MAiD, whereas countries like Canada and the Netherlands allow both. Although the proponents of MAiD often frame assisted suicide as a matter of personal autonomy, those who oppose it believe that in reality, it would accomplish the opposite and endanger vulnerable patients who struggle to access care and support. 'As a practicing physician, I will tell you this does not become a matter of choice for most people,' said Dugdale, author of the 2020 book 'The Lost Art of Dying,' speaking at the New York event. 'The concern is that once you have a choice legalized for the privileged few, it will then threaten life for many others who find it difficult to maintain life for a variety of reasons.' Weak safeguards of the laws and ambiguous definitions would likely contribute to eventually including a wide range of chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, cancer and even mental health disorders like anorexia, Mechmann noted. In such cases, choosing death may not reflect true autonomy but rather systemic neglect, he said. In Colorado, for instance, patients with anorexia have already qualified for assisted death on the grounds that the condition can be fatal if untreated. In 2024, Quebec, a province in Canada, established the right for a person with a serious and incurable illness to choose a medically assisted death in advance. Also in Canada, patients with a mental illness as an underlying medical condition will be eligible for MAiD in 2027. But even with long-term patients, it can be difficult to determine whether a desire to die stems from informed decision-making or untreated depression, Dugdale said. 'The people who tend to seek to end their lives through lethal prescription, who want assisted suicide, are at high risk for depression demographically,' Dugdale said. Among those groups are older adults with advanced cancer, especially white men. Depression is often overlooked or misdiagnosed, despite being treatable. In Oregon, where MAiD has been legal the longest, less than 1% of patients requesting lethal prescriptions are referred for psychological evaluation. 'This is a major oversight that fails to protect depressed people from making flawed decisions,' Dugdale wrote in her op-ed. Opponents also challenge the popular narrative of MAiD as a carefully considered choice made by an informed patient with a long-trusted physician. 'Very few patients have a doctor they call their own anymore, or a doctor who knows them,' said Dr. Eve Slater, a physician and Columbia University professor at an online event hosted by Plough, a Christian magazine, on June 2. Slater, who previously served as assistant secretary for Health and Human Services, said that for many today, especially in New York, care is fragmented, which makes it more challenging to make intimate and ethically sound decisions. She added that legalizing physician-assisted death could further erode the foundational trust between doctor and patient. Physicians also often misjudge how long terminally ill patients will live, according to Slater. 'I've been thankfully proved wrong on many occasions,' Slater said. ' I think there is a fallacy in the premise that you qualify if you have less than six months to live, because any doctor who declares that is assuming a crystal ball that they don't have.' In reality, legalizing assisted death risks creating a new social norm — one that pressures vulnerable individuals, especially those who are alone, seriously ill or unsupported, into feeling like death is their best or only option. In 2019, Kate Connolly, a communications professional in New York City, received a call that her mother had been rushed to the hospital with a brain aneurysm, she recalled while speaking alongside Dugdale and Mechmann. For the next four and a half years, her mother remained confined to her bed and wheelchair, on a feeding tube, unable to do much without assistance. Yet, even in a severely disabled state, her mother's presence was cherished by her family before she died, Connolly said. 'Her family's role, which was also a great sacrifice, was to be steward, not dictators, but respectful stewards of a precious gift,' Connolly said. Around the same time, Connolly learned her unborn son had developed a cystic hygroma — a condition often considered incompatible with life. Both with her mother and her son, Connolly described pressure from medical professionals to end their life prematurely — through abortion or withdrawal of care, which were presented as practical and compassionate choices. She chose to continue her pregnancy, giving birth to a son and holding him after he died. Although hastening death may sometimes seem like a more compassionate and pragmatic decision, this mindset fosters a view of suffering lives as disposable, Connolly said. 'The truth is, from what I've seen, dying is not a problem to be solved,' she said. 'It is an experience to be lived and even embraced. It is a sacred time, truly set apart from any experience.' End-of-life decisions must involve thoughtful, peaceful conversations between patients, families and doctors, Connolly noted. 'What is the right course of action? What is reasonable or what is needlessly extending pain and suffering?' she said. 'You cannot ask these questions thoughtfully or with any real meaning when you're being pushed to just do the expedient thing and end the life in front of you.' According to studies from Canada, the top reasons that patients say they seek a lethal prescription are more social rather than physical. In Canada, the 2022 annual report revealed that the most commonly cited reasons for requesting MAiD were loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities (86%) and loss of ability to perform daily activities (81%). While supporters of MAiD often argue that alleviating pain is one of the main reasons for hastening the death of a patient, about 59% are concerned about 'controlling pain.' According to Oregon data, nearly 30% of MAiD-seeking patients cite current and future concerns about pain. 'So it's much more an issue of control,' Dugdale said, adding that the U.S. has robust pain control. 'Dying in pain is not an issue. It should not be an issue.' Instead, loss of independence and fear of being a burden often are. These fears should be met with care, not a prescription, Mechmann said. 'It's incumbent on us to make sure people don't feel (like a burden).' With her medical trainees, Dugdale observed a shift in attitudes toward physician-assisted dying. In recent conversations, she said, some trainees wondered, 'Why don't we just do away with our societal aversion to suicide altogether?' and embrace the view that if individuals wish to end their lives, they should be free to do so without interference. Once, she was asked whether assisted suicide can be a solution to the problem of loneliness. With this mindset, end-of-life decisions would be made through a utilitarian and individualistic lens. Many physicians are uneasy about appearing 'paternalist,' Dugdale said. 'And so to mitigate that, we defer everything to the patient,' she said. The core ethical principles of beneficence (doing good) and non-maleficence (avoiding harm) have, in practice, been overshadowed by an almost singular focus on autonomy, Dugdale said. For doctors, she continued, MAiD can offer a controlled intervention in the often unpredictable process of dying, providing a sense of agency amid uncertainty. 'There's already a growing pressure to sacrifice one's life for the so-called 'greater good' and to rid the world of expensive, hopeless cases,' she said. Normalizing the idea of choosing death, especially in a society already grappling with high health care costs and an aging population, may cause younger health care professionals to view seriously ill, expensive patients as burdens. A study from Oxford University points to a correlation between legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia and increased rates of more common forms of suicide in both the U.S. and Europe. 'Once it becomes widely acceptable that I can end my life on my own terms, that feeds a culture of death,' Dugdale said. In Canada, euthanasia is now the fifth most common cause of death. 'At some point, the vast majority of people in the state of New York are gonna be laying in a hospital bed. And when the doctor shows up, what are we gonna think? Is this my ally or is this my enemy?' Mechmann said. So what, then, is the way forward? Investing in meaningful relationships and community and maintaining deep personal connections through family, faith communities, clubs or friendships is a bulwark against loneliness and despair, experts agreed. It's human connection — not lethal prescriptions — that is the real antidote to suffering, participants in the event said. 'Suffering is inevitable,' Mechmann said. But the assisted suicide is a 'bad answer' to the problem of suffering. 'It's love, it's community, it's not despairing. It's being willing to embrace some of the suffering and to live with it and to walk with it.' Editor's note: This story deals with the practice of assisted suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Line is always available. You can text or call 988 any time or chat at In Utah, you can also reach out to SafeUT, 833-372-3388, or download the SafeUT app.
San Francisco Chronicle
20-05-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘I have the same cancer that Joe Biden has': Dilbert creator Scott Adams says he has months to live
Scott Adams, the creator of the 'Dilbert' comic strip, says that he has been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, the same form recently announced in President Joe Biden. Speaking on his YouTube show, 'Real Coffee with Scott Adams,' the controversial 67-year-old Bay Area cartoonist revealed on Monday, May 19, that his cancer had spread to his bones and that he expected to live only a few more months. 'I have the same cancer that Joe Biden has,' Adams said, describing his condition as 'intolerable.' He explained that he has been in constant pain and uses a walker to get around. 'If you're wondering if I'll get better, the answer is no, it will only get worse,' he added. 'There's only one direction this goes now.' Adams, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, took the opportunity to express sympathy for Biden and his family, acknowledging the difficult road ahead for the president. 'I'd like to extend my respect and compassion for the ex-president and his family because they're going through an especially tough time,' Adams said. 'It's a terrible disease.' While Adams did not go into detail about his treatments, he mentioned that alternative medications such as ivermectin and fenbendazole had proven ineffective for him. Adams, a California resident, also referenced the state's End of Life Option Act, which permits assisted dying for terminally ill patients, as an option he was considering. The cartoonist explained that he had kept his diagnosis private until now, partly to avoid being labeled as 'the dying cancer guy' and also because he had been waiting for his stepdaughter's wedding. He saw Biden's public announcement as an opportunity to share his own news. 'When Joe Biden went public with his situation, I thought to myself, 'You know what, I'm going to slide under his story, and he's going to take away a lot of the attention' because, you know, ex-president,' he said. 'If you're thinking about prostate cancer, you're going to be thinking about him as much as me, so it just takes a little of the energy away.' Despite the backlash, Adams continues to share his views through his YouTube program, where he frequently weighs in on political and social issues. Adams said he was bracing for a mixed reaction to his health news, particularly from his political opponents. 'My enemies — in other words, people who are Democrats, mostly — are going to come after me pretty hard, so I have to put up with that,' he said. 'But I'm ready for that.' 'Everybody has to die, as far as I know,' Adams said.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Delegates renew medical aid-in-dying bill, but Senate hurdle remains
Sen. Charles E. Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), left, talks wth Senate Judicial Proceedings Chair William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery). Photo by Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters) A decade-long fight over whether to let terminally ill patients hasten their deaths with physician oversight returned Monday in a two-hour House hearing, but lawmakers again said the Senate is likely to be the stumbling block this year. 'The votes aren't there. Not in committee and not on the floor,' Judicial Proceedings Chair Will Smith (D-Montgomery) said Monday evening. His comments came just hours after a joint hearing by the House Judiciary and the Government and Operations committees on House Bill 1328, the End of Life Option Act, which would allow certain terminally ill patients to request medical aid in dying with the help of a physician. In order to qualify under the bill, patients would have to have the capacity to make their own medical decisions and have less than six months to live. The legislation requires both an oral request and written request with two witnesses and a required wait time to ensure that the patient wants to go through with the measure, among other restrictions. Debate on the bill is often emotionally charged, a challenge lawmakers' moral values that does not cut cleanly on party lines. But the bill's main sponsor, Del. Terri Hill (D-Howard), says it provides 'compassion and autonomy to those facing imminent death.' Medical aid-in-dying has had a dramatic history in the General Assembly over the past decade. In 2019, the bill failed on a 23-23 tie in the Senate after one senator opted to not vote, saying he 'could not bring myself' to vote one way or the other. In 2024, advocates and Senate leadership thought it would come to the floor, but it stalled Judicial Proceedings amid concerns that there were not enough votes to pass it out of committee. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE Smith, who is sponsoring the legislation in the Senate this year, said changes in the membership of the Senate and his committee do not appear to have improved its chances this year. It will still have a hearing next week in Judicial Proceedings next week, Smith said, giving lawmakers a little time to consider the legislation. But Smith says medical aid-in-dying is not an issue you can 'twist arms on.' 'It's a vote of conscience. You're either there or you're not,' he said. The moral dilemmas the bill presents were on display during Monday's joint House hearing. Supporters say the bill grants dying patients the ability to set the terms of their deaths, rather than waiting for the end to come — possibly in severe pain due to their illnesses. 'I ask you all, yet again, how many more Marylanders have to die without this option?' asked Brandi Alexander, an advocate with Compassion and Choices, a nonprofit advocacy group pushing for aid-in-dying legislation across the U.S. 'We sit here year after year, debating opinions and statistics and facts, but this is about people – dying people that, frankly, deserve more from their leadership,' said Alexander, a Prince George's County resident. She referenced a survey of Maryland voters last year on the issue that found nearly 70% of Marylanders supported medical aid-in-dying options. The poll was conducted by Annapolis-based Gonzales Research & Media and commissioned by Compassion and Choices. 'Yet and still, we continue to spend hours and now years actually pontificating while dying people are suffering,' Alexander said. Del. Brian Chisholm (R-Anne Arundel) noted the reappearance of the bill over the years, but said he held 'the same reservations about this bill' this session as he has in the past. 'There are a lot of vulnerable people. There are people who are disabled … there's people who can't communicate,' he said. 'And that's always going to be my concern with this legislation. People with Alzheimer's, starting to lose their mind, people who are elderly who are not all the way there. It's a vote of conscience. You're either there or you're not. – Sen. Will Smith (D-Montgomery) 'I just don't know if there are enough protections that could ever be put in place to make sure that the most,' he said. Laura Bogley, executive director for Maryland Right to Life, worries that passing the current bill would snowball into bigger issues. 'A procedure that begins with safe, legal and rare can quickly become an unregulated monopoly that deprives patients access to life-saving alternatives,' she said. 'We urge you to put patients over profits and keep assisted suicide in criminal codes where it belongs.' The disability community were split on the issue Monday. Nicole LeBlanc, a resident from Silver Spring who is on the autism spectrum, opposes the legislation. She fears people with disabilities would consider medical aid-in-dying options because they 'don't want to be to be a burden to their families.' But Seth Morgan, who has multiple sclerosis and also advocates for Compassion and Choices, supports the bill because 'disability is not a terminal illness' and he believes there are enough protections in it to protect the disability community from widespread misuse of the bill. Hill assured that those who are not mentally capable of making their own medical decisions would not be eligible to receive medical aid-in-dying options. But without support from the Judicial Proceedings Committee, the fight could continue for another year, to the disappointment of advocates who support of the legislation. 'If I sound angry, it's because we've worked for 10 years and it's usually some kind of political pandering that doesn't let this bill see the daylight,' Edna Hirsch said in support of the legislation Monday. 'Please, I beg you, let this get to the General Assembly. Let it get out of committee and let it get voted on.'
