We have another cause to rally around! Those of us in our 60s, 70s and 80s have a new mission to pull us together, as the women’s- and civil-rights movements did in the ’60s. We have always done things differently, why should death be any different?
The 2016 Colorado End-of-Life Options Act bill was reintroduced into the Colorado Legislature this month, and hopefully it will continue on to the House and Senate floors in February, as bills number HB-1054 and SB-025 respectively. As many of you may remember, last year after the talk by Roland Halpren from Compassion and Choices at Life Long Learning, the bill was defeated in committee, and never got the attention it so deserved.
The bill affirms the right of qualified, terminally ill adults to obtain a prescription from their physician for medication that they may choose to self-administer for a humane and dignified death. This medical practice, called aid in dying, is currently authorized in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana and California. Many other states are considering it in 2016.
One never wants to have to make this decision. However, I feel I would like to at least have this choice about how to die, if an incurable disease situation arises. This is a very personal decision, whether to prolong life or to end suffering. The peace of mind it has given people in other states improves the quality of life at the end of life, whether or not the patient chooses to ingest the prescription.
Studies have shown that overall end-of-life care improves in states with this law. There are more hospice referrals, increased diagnosis of mental health conditions, and generally better treatment of dying patients. Patients and doctors are able to talk more openly about end of life concerns, and most terminally ill patients go on to explore other treatment alternatives, including hospice, pain management and palliative care. Oregon has the highest number of at-home deaths of any state, and this is what most of us would choose.
Objections and legitimate concerns initially raised in these state have been shown to be unfounded. Contrary to what many expected, the law is sparingly used. Less than 1 in 500 deaths in Oregon chose to administer the medication (60 or 70 a year out of a total of over 30,000 deaths), with comparable numbers in Washington.
The 2015 Tamley-Drake Omni poll found that 68 percent of registered Colorado voters supported a terminally ill person’s right to obtain the medication and 89 percent agreed that the end of life should be a private decision between patients, their family, their faith and their own doctor – not the government. The local Durango Herald Reader Poll showed that out of 1,593 respondents, 1,358 wanted to expand options for the terminally ill, that’s 85 percent! This is not a partisan issue.
Here in Durango, there have been many people who would have appreciated this law. There’s the teacher, Tom Byrne who starved himself to death to relieve the misery related to his last days with cancer in May 2015. Whitey Powers’s wife, who was terminally ill, finally died recently after many difficult days and nights of suffering. And, there’s Verlena Collentine, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer just last October – only one in three of these cancer patients lives for five more years. Her quality of life is still good, but she faces the unknown daily, the “what if” thinking and the sobering fact that not all cancer can be cured.
She asks, “When does the burden of treatments outweigh any benefit? I think that’s an individual decision that no one else can make.”
We need this bill passed. I encourage all of you who agree, to write, email or call state Rep. J. Paul Brown and state Sen. Ellen Roberts. Please tell them this bill is necessary and important to all of us who are aging. This is something we can all do, will only take a few minutes and could make a huge difference in any one of our lives and deaths.
Aid in dying does not cause more people to die; it allows fewer people to suffer.
For the latest information about this bill, go to: www.CompassionandChoices.org then click on “In Your State.” If you’d like to help locally: juanita.ainsley@aol.com.
Martha McClellan has been a developmental educator in early childhood for 38 years. She has moved her focus now to the other end of life, and has written the book, The Aging Athlete: What We Do to Stay in the Game. Reach her at mmm@bresnan.net.
What the law would say
The proposed Colorado bill contains the same provisions that have worked successfully in Oregon for over 17 years. They are:
The patient must be a mentally competent adult who is a legal resident of Colorado and is diagnosed with an irreversible and incurable illness that, in a doctor’s best medical judgment, will result in the patient’s death in six months or less.
A consultation between the terminally ill and his or her doctor is to be made in private, so the patient can be open and candid.
The patient must make two separate requests for the medication separated by a minimum waiting period of 15 days.
A second physician must confirm that the patient will likely die in six months or less.
If either physician suspects the patient may be acting out of duress, is under coercion, may be suffering from depression or may lack the ability to fully appreciate the nature of the request, the patient must be referred for an evaluation by a psychologist or licensed mental health care professional.
The patient must be counseled on all feasible alternative treatment options, including hospice, pain management and palliative care.
The patient must complete a written request for the medication signed by two witnesses who testify that in their best judgment the patient is not being coerced or acting under duress and that the patient appears to be making a fully informed decision.
At least one witness cannot be related by blood, marriage, adoption or civil union, nor be named as a beneficiary of the patient’s will or estate.
The patient may rescind the request at any time.
The patient must be able to self-administer the medication; no one else may assist.
The proposed law does not permit euthanasia, mercy killing or assisting a suicide, all of which remain felonies under Colorado law.
A death under the law will not invalidate a life insurance policy or annuity.
Provided all the procedures have been followed and documented, no doctor, pharmacist or health care provider can be held civilly or criminally liable.
Health care providers opposed to death with dignity are not required to participate.
The physician is to advise the patient about the safety of storing the medication and the proper disposal of any unused medicine.
