Like Nancy Paglia’s Dec. 23 letter, I really want to see Massachusetts join New York, Maine, Vermont, New Jersey, and 10 others and pass a Death with Dignity law. So have other countries like Canada, Netherlands, Colombia, and New Zealand.
I had a bout with cancer last year, and if it returns, I know I want the option of a peaceful, painless death through such a law, also known as medical aid in dying (MAID).
The bill in Massachusetts is called The End of Life Options Act (S1486), and like all the other states that have legalized MAID, it stipulates that people can only qualify if they are terminally ill with six months or less to live, and mentally capable of making their own end-of-life health care decisions.
I’ve heard that hospice and palliative care do wonders to keep terminally ill people comfortable in their final stage of life, but they can’t always alleviate severe pain and suffering for everyone. If that were the case for me, I’d choose this option of self-administering a medication prescribed by my doctor, and trade a few days or weeks of life–and a very poor quality of life, at that — in order to avoid a painful ending that would be unbearable not just for me but for my family too.
The MAID bill in our legislature has more support from the public and legislators than ever before, and has already been passed by two public health committees. Now it’s in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Contact its co-chair Sen. Michael Rodrigues (michael.rodrigues@masenate.gov) and urge him to pass it asap. Then the full Senate and House can vote on and pass it before the legislative session ends on July 31.
Richard Taranto
Northampton