Tom Byrne’s legacy is a life well-lived – right until the very end. The retired Durango High School English teacher, river guide, musician and friend who died on May 2 was known among those who loved him as someone who loved experiencing the world he lived in and sharing that with others. In his final days, Byrne, who had terminal esophageal cancer, turned that experience inward as he made a decision to end his life on his own terms rather than suffer a drawn-out, painful death that could have taken months.
There were few legal options available to Byrne, and in order to split the difference between a death brought about by the ravages of his illness and one caused by his own hand, he chose to deprive himself of food and water until he succumbed. Byrne saw it as a natural alternative and one that gave him control over his death. Even still, the process took nearly two weeks. Had a more humane option been available, Byrne would have employed it.
The Colorado Legislature had an opportunity in its just-finished session to provide the relief that Byrne and others facing similar fates sought. House Bill 1135, which the House Health and Human Services Committee killed, would have allowed physicians to prescribe life-ending medication to terminally ill patients of sound mind who have been given fewer than six months to live. The bill contained many safeguards to prevent patients and physicians from misusing the option. These patients must request the medication – three times: once in writing, twice verbally, with waiting periods between each request. The written request must be witnessed by two people, one of which can be neither a relative, heir nor caregiver. The patient must be able to administer the medication himself – no physician, prescribing or otherwise – may do so. Further, the prescribing physician would have been required to first educate their patients about alternatives, including counseling, hospice or other treatments. No physician would be compelled by the law to prescribe life-ending medication, and no patient would be similarly compelled to ingest it. The measure would simply have provided an alternative to a slow, painful and certain death – empowering terminal patients to meet their end on their own terms.
There are, of course, many religious and moral taboos surrounding death by one’s own hand and, for physicians, assisting with that process. These were at play when the Legislature postponed indefinitely HB 1135. And while that is certainly part of the conversation around right-to-die legislation, there are many factors beyond those taboos. Compassion and individual empowerment are primary among these, and the failed legislation contained provisions that protected these while also ensuring that the right to employ this life-ending option is not abused. In the few states where death with dignity laws exist, no such abuses have been documented. It is past time to transcend the taboo in Colorado.
When the Colorado Legislature convenes in January, lawmakers should prioritize a conversation around this topic. Tom Byrne’s final days were an exercise in willpower and deprivation as he withheld food and water from himself while his body shut down. Had he been given an option to receive a life-ending prescription, Byrne could have avoided this unnecessary discomfort. The Legislature has the means to make that option available and should exercise it in the next session.
