???Today, for the first time, terminally ill residents of Washington may choose to end their own lives with the aid of a medical professional and a legally prescribed lethal drug. This makes Washington the second state in U.S. history to legalize assisted suicide, Oregon being the first.
???The law states that any terminally ill patient over the age of 18 who has been ruled mentally competent may be prescribed drugs to be administered with the purpose of ending his or her own life with the assistance of a health care professional. Hospitals may choose whether or not to offer the service, although if they opt out, they are required to refer the patient to a hospital or health care provider that does.
???Last fall, Washingtonians voted 'overwhelmingly' to pass the law, according to the New York Times.
???Only 401 people have taken advantage of Oregon's law since it was passed in 1998, which seems to suggest that the citizens of Washington State have acted out of empathy as opposed to necessity in adopting this legislation.
???The history and use of Oregon's version of the law has been and will be telling for Washington doctors as they proceed in the wake of the law's passing. The majority of the 401 people who have legally taken their own lives in Oregon have done so by using drugs obtained outside of a hospital setting and have taken said drugs at home, a trend that will probably continue in Washington.
???While it is somewhat harsh to put a monetary spin on this, it cannot be denied that the terminally ill patient who chooses to take his or her own life is saving the medical system resources, time and effort that can then be applied to other patients.
???More importantly, this law represents a step forward in enlightened thinking in this country. It tackles an issue that most people prefer not to think about, which has historically forced many terminally ill patients to live out their remaining days in great pain with few or no options for either relief or release.
???Put in another way, it is the right of any sane adult to decide what he or she does with his or her life, and sadly, that must include the option of ending it. When death is the only option and the only real choice is death now or death later, it is morally unsound to refuse the people facing their demise their choice of timing.
???What remains to be seen is whether similar laws will come into play in other states following Washington's decision and the 2006 Supreme Court decision that assisted suicide was within a state's rights to allow. Two states is a start, but this is a law that will only elevate us to adopt it all around.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
