One of the proposed laws in California that's getting strong reactions from supporters and opponents is Senate Bill 128, or the End-of-Life-Option Act, authored by state Senators Bill Monning (D-Carmel) and Lois Wolk (D-Davis). The aid-in-dying bill is controversial because some people are against any form of assisted suicide, that is, having a doctor prescribe drugs to terminally ill people so they can choose when to end their own lives. The aid-in-dying issue was brought to the forefront late last year after Bay Area resident Brittany Maynard, who had terminal brain cancer, shared her own decision to die with the help of her doctor. Maynard moved to Oregon so she could access that state's Death with Dignity law, which Monning and Wolk's bill uses as a model. Maynard died last November. Her family supports the California bill, which passed out of the state Senate recently on a 23-15 vote.
It now heads to the Assembly, and that body should pass the bill when it comes up for a vote.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors this week passed a resolution in support of SB 128. Lead sponsor Supervisor John Avalos was joined by co-sponsors Supervisor Eric Mar and gay Supervisors David Campos and Scott Wiener.
The resolution noted that in the nearly 20 years since Oregon's Death with Dignity Act went into effect, data "demonstrates the safety of the practice of upholding a patient's right to self-determination." It also states that "four other states �" Washington, Vermont, New Mexico, and Montana �" have affirmed aid in dying practices through legislative or legal action."
The supervisors also noted that San Francisco is a city that respects the diversity of perspectives on end-of-life decisions. The city also recognizes that the choices a person makes at the end of life are "inalienably grounded in that individual's life experiences," the board's resolution stated.
There are safeguards in the bill. SB 128 requires that two California doctors agree that a patient is mentally competent and has six months or less to live. The patient would have to discuss other treatment options, such as palliative care and pain control. A patient seeking to end their life would be required to make a written request and two oral requests at least 15 days apart; so the action would not happen immediately, and there is time if a patient changes their mind.
The death with dignity movement has gained a wider following in recent years, thanks to medical advancement and more understanding of the issue. If people suffering from a terminal illness are mentally competent, they should be able to end their lives with dignity with the aid of a physician. Education around dying with dignity and changes in patient and doctor attitudes about assisted death have also helped people better understand the options. Last month, the bill received a boost in support when the California Medical Association dropped its opposition.
Opponents, mainly in the disability community, argue that vulnerable people may be coerced into ending their lives by heirs looking to profit or health insurers who find it less expensive to prescribe death rather than procedures that would sustain them for a longer period. These are both valid concerns, but we think the bill has enough safeguards to militate against those possibilities.
The other thing to keep in mind is this: back during the height of the AIDS epidemic, a lot of gay men would have opted for death with dignity rather than the immense suffering and pain they endured, when no real treatment options were available. The AIDS community has pioneered a lot of the practices now applied to help those with various diseases. As much as it has become recommended practice to sign advance health directives so that loved ones can carry out medical decisions should a person not be able to communicate, the End-of-Life-Option Act sets a clear protocol that patients and their doctors must follow to receive the medication.
We think it's time for California to allow its citizens to have this option so they can avoid the late-stage suffering engendered by disease and die on their own terms.