Terminal patients deserve death with dignity. New Mexico aid-in-dying law sets standard.

[Judi Lynn]

Waiting periods prolong suffering for terminally ill patients. Nation should follow law that allows easier access to options for death on own terms.

Kim Callinan Opinion contributor

Published 9:00 a.m. Sept. 18, 2021

"I couldn’t take her pain away."

Those were the words of Danny King after his wife Sharon King died. She is reportedly one of the first New Mexico residents to use the state’s new groundbreaking law that allows terminally ill adults to have better access to medical aid in dying. The law – which allows patients to take prescription medication that ends unbearable suffering – is already serving as a model for other states to improve current medical aid-in-dying laws or pass new ones.

New Mexico’s law is innovative because it corrects the access problem created by time-consuming regulatory roadblocks that can take weeks or months to overcome. It also maintains time-tested, core safeguards of similar laws in Washington, D.C., and eight states: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

These unnecessary hurdles often prevent a large percentage of terminally ill adults from using this peaceful dying option, causing needless end-of-life suffering. A 2018 study by Kaiser Permanente Southern California shows one-third (33%) of terminally ill adults who request to use California’s End of Life Option Act die before completing the law’s time-consuming, multi-step process, including many during the 15-day waiting period.

"That mandatory minimum waiting period is a huge barrier for some patients," said Dr. Ryan Spielvogel, a Sacramento, California, family medicine specialist, during a news conference hosted by my group, Compassion & Choices Action Network. The network sponsored California legislation aimed at reducing wait times and improving access to end-of-life options. "Every one of the 80+ patients that I have overseen through the process had been thinking about it for weeks or months before their first visit."

More:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/09/18/terminal-patients-deserve-death-dignity-n-m-law-sets-standard/8339866002/

[Hoyt]

1. Good news for them. Jack Kevorkian is one of my heroes.

[CarmanJohn]

2. Dr. Kevorkian Was One of Mine Also.

To watch my Father die of Bone Cancer while he SUFFERED for 9 month's was, BY FAR, the most heartbreaking portion of my Life. Why we, as a Society, seem to struggle with what should be a common sense approach to life is beyond me.

[Hoyt]

3. Sorry about your dad. That's why we need a better way. It's hard on patient and family.