The key word to remember is “dignity.”
The policy is called “death with dignity” because it provides humane options for terminally ill patients who want to die on their own terms.
Earlier this month, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the End of Life Option Act, which allows doctors to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill patients who want to hasten their deaths.
In five states now, it is no longer a crime for a dying person to end his life.
Florida should offer the same option to its residents, too.
While younger people certainly have incurable illnesses — Brittany Maynard of California was 29 when her physician-assisted suicide drew national attention last year — the median age of people who choose the procedure is over 70. Florida has 2.3 million residents over the age of 70.
Death with dignity gives options to people who have no hope of recovery and have less than six months to live. It provides a sense of control, a relief from suffering and a chance for a person to decide the manner and time of their death, if that’s what they choose.
“It impacts a lot of people’s lives in a positive sense,” we were told by Peg Sandeen, executive director of the Death with Dignity National Center in Oregon. Her group helped write the Oregon law that was the template for the California legislation. Washington, Vermont and Montana also have death-with-dignity laws.
Certainly, there are concerns with physician-assisted suicide, which is why the movement has plenty of safeguards to ensure no one is coerced into having the procedure.
Among the conditions in the California law:
*You must be terminally ill, with a prognosis of six months or less to live;
*You have to be mentally competent to make a decision.
*At least two people must witness the request;
*Two physicians must examine the patient.
*And most important, no one but the patient can administer the lethal drugs. The laws have been carefully written to ensure that.
While some people fear the procedure will be used too often, that hasn’t been the case. Oregon has had the law since 1997, and only about 100 people a year choose this route. The average Oregon patient — where Brittany Maynard moved because aid-in-dying was a crime in California — is 71, suffering from terminal cancer, well-educated and in hospice care.
“It creates a choice, gives an option to those folks who meet the criteria,” Sandeen said.
It was 30 years ago when Broward was at the epicenter of this issue. At the time, 75-year-old Roswell Gilbert was caring for his 71-year-old wife Emily in their Sea Ranch Lakes condo. Emily was suffering from Alzheimer’s and begged Roswell to put her out of her misery.
With no humane alternatives, Gilbert ended Emily’s life by shooting her, then waited for police to arrive. Convicted of first degree murder, he was sentenced to a minimum mandatory of 25 years. He was eventually released from prison at 81 with the help of a letter from the Broward prosecutor. He died in 1994.
Still today, Florida allows no assisted-suicide option. Although public opinion shows nearly 70 percent of Americans say terminally-ill adults should have right the right to hasten their deaths, the issue is on no political agenda here.
Many people will oppose the prospect, for religious and other reasons. That is certainly their choice.
But for many people, having the option of bringing the family together, celebrating a life and letting someone slip away on their own terms would provide some emotional relief. It also might provide comfort knowing that when doctors agree there is no chance for recovery, the pain and suffering can end in a humane way.
Sandeen believes Connecticut, Maryland and possibly New York could be next to consider death with dignity. It’s a complex, emotional issue, but it is time to have the conversation in Florida.