Hospice AND medical aid in dying should be available to all Americans
I am responding to Rev. Daniel Warriner’s opinion piece, “Physician-aided death is not health care.” He starts by saying “As someone who works within a healthcare setting, I would like to know who in our hospitals is asking for this…….I don’t hear anyone in the hospital asking for this bill…”
Could people be afraid to mention it to Rev. Warriner because they know his position? For decades people from all walks of life across our country have asked for assistance ending their lives in humane fashion when they have refractory suffering from a terminal condition. That is why multiple states, representing more than a quarter of the U.S. population have passed medical aid in dying (MAID) laws. These laws allow terminally ill patients to request medications from their physicians to keep in their homes, to use if and when they decide to end their suffering. There are decades of experience in other
Physician-aided death is not healthcare
We just passed the year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare workers have been saving lives and comforting the dying one breathing tube at a time. We have been working double and triple shifts, we’ve cried as we have lost patients and comforted families, and we have been called heroes. And now, for some reason, legislation to enact physician-assisted death is up for discussion: H.B. No. 6425, An Act Concerning Aid In Dying For Terminally Ill Patients.
As someone who works within a healthcare setting, I would like to know who in our hospitals is asking for this. I have found that this is not a topic of conversation in an environment where death has become all too common already. I don’t hear anyone in the hospital asking for this bill. Everyone is too busy saving lives.