# Politics and News > SOCIETY & humanities >  The Right To Die With Dignity

## Karl

In April, I learned that not only had my tumor come back, but it was more aggressive. Doctors gave me a prognosis of six months to live.
Because my tumor is so large, doctors prescribed full brain radiation. I read about the side effects: The hair on my scalp would have been singed off. My scalp would be left covered with first-degree burns. My quality of life, as I knew it, would be gone.
After months of research, my family and I reached a heartbreaking conclusion: There is no treatment that would save my life, and the recommended treatments would have destroyed the time I had left.
I considered passing away in hospice care at my San Francisco Bay-area home. But even with palliative medication, I could develop potentially morphine-resistant pain and suffer personality changes and verbal, cognitive and motor loss of virtually any kind.


Brittany Maynard and Dan Diaz
 Brittany Maynard: I don't want to die
Because the rest of my body is young and healthy, I am likely to physically hang on for a long time even though cancer is eating my mind. I probably would have suffered in hospice care for weeks or even months. And my family would have had to watch that.
I did not want this nightmare scenario for my family, so I started researching death with dignity. It is an end-of-life option for mentally competent, terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live. It would enable me to use the medical practice of aid in dying: I could request and receive a prescription from a physician for medication that I could self-ingest to end my dying process if it becomes unbearable.
I quickly decided that death with dignity was the best option for me and my family.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/02/health...ard/index.html

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## Karl

Current status if Death With Dignity Laws On the Books or Pending Legislation


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Bills which seek to improve end-of-life care have been introduced in state legislatures around the country, and state legislators look to the Oregon Death with Dignity Act as a guide for good reason. Oregon's law has been in effect since 1997, and the years of data show the law is safe and utilized the way it's intended with no evidence of a slippery slope for vulnerable Oregonians. Our win in Washington in 2008 and our 2013 victory in Vermont demonstrate this solid legislation stands the test of time and serves as the model for all states.


While many bills are drafted each year, the majority fail. Some consider it a failure most bills don't end up becoming law, but we view these bills as a testament to the growing support of the Death with Dignity movement, the will of the public, and the strength of the Oregon, Washington, and Vermont model legislation.


Below is a summary of the status of current Death with Dignity-related legislation in the US.


Bills in favor of physician-assisted death:
Connecticut	
Bill Numbers	House Bill 5326
Bill title	An Act Concerning Compassionate Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon, Washington, and Vermont Death with Dignity laws.
Date Introduced	2/24/14
Latest update	Introduced and referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health on 2/24/14. Public hearing on 3/17/14. Bill missed deadline and won't advance this session.
Hawaii	
Bill Number	House Bill 606
Bill title	Relating to Death with Dignity
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon, Washington, and Vermont Death with Dignity laws.
Date Introduced	1/18/13
Latest update	Introduced and referred to Health, Judicial and Financial Committees on 1/22/13 and was carried over to the 2014 session on 12/18/13. Bill missed deadline and is unlikely to move forward this session.
Kansas	
Bill Number	House Bill 2068
Bill title	Kansas Death with Dignity Act
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon, Washington, and Vermont Death with Dignity laws.
Date Introduced	1/23/13
Latest update	Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services on 1/24/13. The bill is open for consideration throughout 2013-2014 biennium. Bill missed deadline and is unlikely to move forward this session.
Massachusetts	
Bill Number	House Bill 1998
Bill title	An Act affirming a terminally ill patient's right to compassionate aid in dying
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon, Washington, and Vermont Death with Dignity laws.
Date Introduced	1/22/13
Latest update	Introduced and referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health. The Committee heard testimony on 12/17/13. Bill missed deadline and is unlikely to move forward this session.
New Hampshire	
Bill Number	House Bill 1325
Bill title	An Act relative to death with dignity for certain persons suffering from a terminal condition.
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon, Washington, and Vermont Death with Dignity laws.
Date Introduced	1/8/14
Latest update	Introduced and referred to the Judiciary Committee. The committee heard testimony on 2/4/14 and Executive Session was held on 2/18/14. Committee vote nearly an even split, 9 voting against it and 8 voting for the bill, and on 3/6/14 the House voted against the bill.
New Jersey	
Bill Number	Senate Bill 382 and Assembly Bill 2270
Bill title	New Jersey Death with Dignity Act
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon, Washington, and Vermont Death with Dignity laws.
Date Introduced	1/14/14 in the Senate and 2/6/14 in the Assembly.
Latest update	Senate bill introduced and referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. Assembly bill introduced and referred to the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee. On 6/5/14, the Assembly Committee voted 8-4 to advance the bill, and on 11/13/14 the Assembly voted 41-31 in favor of the bill.
Pennsylvania	
Bill Number	Senate Bill 1032
Bill title	Death with Dignity Act
Summary	Introduces legislation similar to the Oregon, Washington, and Vermont Death with Dignity laws.
- See more at: http://www.deathwithdignity.org/advo....zjKwJVVs.dpuf

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## Karl

So should TERMINALLY ILL and Suffering have the OPTION of ENDING their lives and suffering under controlled circumstances ?

lets discuss

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## Old Ridge Runner

Discuss what?

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## Dos Equis

> So should TERMINALLY ILL and Suffering have the OPTION of ENDING their lives and suffering under controlled circumstances ?
> 
> lets discuss


Sure, it's called abortion.    :Smiley ROFLMAO:

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## Mainecoons

> So should TERMINALLY ILL and Suffering have the OPTION of ENDING their lives and suffering under controlled circumstances ?
> 
> lets discuss


Absolutely.  Laws against this are just another example of government tyranny and usurpation of your individual rights including the right to die on your own terms, not that of the medical profession or the G-damned government.

These laws don't come from liberals, BTW, they generally come from "conservatives" who think they have the right to use government to enforce their ideas of morality.

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BleedingHeadKen (12-22-2014),hoytmonger (12-23-2014),Invayne (12-24-2014)

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## philly rabbit

If you want to kill yourself then go ahead. Just don't use doctors and the medical community to do it.

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Jim Scott (12-24-2014),Old Ridge Runner (12-23-2014)

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## Mainecoons

If you want to die the hard way, don't force others to do likewise.  The medical community isn't being "used" at all, quite the contrary.

You use the government to block free choice by both patients and doctors.  Just another neocon.

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Invayne (12-24-2014)

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## philly rabbit

> If you want to die the hard way, don't force others to do likewise.  The medical community isn't being "used" at all, quite the contrary.
> 
> You use the government to block free choice by both patients and doctors.  Just another neocon.


I don't think I want to give doctors that kind of power - so sorry.

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## BleedingHeadKen

> If you want to kill yourself then go ahead. Just don't use doctors and the medical community to do it.


What if the doctors or other members of the medical community want to be a part of it?

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## Sled Dog

> WTF ?
> The OP is about individuals knowingly killing themselves, not doctors sneaking up and killing them.


And that all laws are subject to abuse and loopholes is well known, and so-called "assisted suicide" has many apparent flaws that must be discussed and repaired.

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## Katzndogz

No patient has ever returned and denied they had given consent.

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## squidward

> You're missing the obvious.
> 
> The desire to commit suicide is often a symptom of mental illness, and as such is usually treatable.


The mentally ill manage to do the job quite effectively without assistance.

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## Sled Dog

I think the big issue is mission slip and government excess.

Used to be that doctors could decline to commit abortions (something their Hippocratic oath forbids them from doing) and that taxpayers did not fund them.

Religious based hospitals can now lose their funding if they don't murder babies, and taxpayers are being robbed to fund the murder of babies.

Can you imagine what's going to happen when the government allows "suicide by doctor"?  It will be REQUIRED of all "doctors" and the taxpayer will fund it.

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## squidward

> Can you imagine what's going to happen when the government allows "suicide by doctor"?  It will be REQUIRED of all "doctors" and the taxpayer will fund it.


the skills of a physician are not required. They should not be involved.

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## Mainecoons

> I think the big issue is mission slip and government excess.
> 
> Used to be that doctors could decline to commit abortions (something their Hippocratic oath forbids them from doing) and that taxpayers did not fund them.
> 
> Religious based hospitals can now lose their funding if they don't murder babies, and taxpayers are being robbed to fund the murder of babies.
> 
> Can you imagine what's going to happen when the government allows "suicide by doctor"?  It will be REQUIRED of all "doctors" and the taxpayer will fund it.


Can you imagine what is going to happen when you neocon government-control loving "conservatives" run out of silly strawmen and runaway imagination?

 :Rofl:

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