PBS Newshour: Should the terminally ill be able to choose when they die?

[yewberry]

59. Yes.

A living will refers to life-prolonging treatments when a patient may not be able to communicate his or her wishes. It applies to making wishes about when to continue treatment known, like when someone is in a vegetative state.

This case is about a woman who is not unable to communicate. She is dying but not on her deathbed. In Oregon and Washington, there are laws that allow terminally ill people to submit a request for lethal doses of medication so that they may choose their own deaths.

I'm in WA. I had a friend with a very aggressive cancer. She was 22 and her cancer didn't respond to treatment. Her life became more and more painful and she finally chose to petition her doc for a lethal dose so that she might be able to die when she decided it was time. She got initial approval and passed before the final approval came through.