by Ramon Peco/via Flickr
On Wednesday, a California court declared the state’s right-to-die law unconstitutional. The End of Life Act (AB-15) was passed in 2016 in a special session called by Governor Gerry Brown, and permitted physicians to prescribe medications to a patient “for the sole purpose of ending his or her life.” California was one of just a handful of states that had such legislation. Reports note that an appeal is likely.
And also last week, Australian scientist and right-to-die advocate David Goodall, who was 104 years old, flew to Basel, Switzerland, to take advantage of its right-to-die law and end his life. According to the New York Times, Goodall, whose health had been deteriorating since a fall, said, “One wants to be free to choose his death when death is at the appropriate time.” Mr. Goodall lamented that his home country didn’t allow him to die there.
An ongoing debate.
These events last week underscore the struggle over whether people have a right to choose to end their lives and who should decide that. It’s also why we are very pleased to highlight this important topic in the current issue of AJN.
In “Assisted Suicide/Aid in Dying: What Is the Nurse’s Role?”, ethicist Ann Hamric and colleagues report on a policy dialogue that occurred at the American Academy of Nursing’s annual conference in October 2016. Four panelists, including Judy Schwarz (clinical director at End of Life Choices New York), Lew Cohen (psychiatrist and author of No Good Deed: A Story of Medicine, Murder Accusations, and the Debate over How We Die), Mimi Mahon (National Institutes of Health Clinical Center palliative care team) and Vermont state senator Claire Ayer (lead author of Vermont’s death with dignity legislation)—explored the arguments for and against the slow expansion of aid-in-dying (AID) legislation to more states. In addition, the article includes diverse commentaries from ethicists and the ANA on the issues raised by the panelists.
As more aid-in-dying laws are passed, questions for nurses.
The panelists also considered issues related to the role of nurses in assisting patients who request AID. What are the implications of such laws for nurses—who may find themselves in the midst of these decisions as more patients and states grapple with this issue?
It’s a thought-provoking and sensitive analysis of this much-debated contemporary issue. Let us know your thoughts or experiences around these and other related end-of-life issues.
Suicide is illegal, so why should this be different? Hospice provides comfort care and there are better ways to handle this than to have a person commit suicide.