“It allows for individual liberty and freedom, freedom of choice,”
September 11, 2015 4:35 PM   Subscribe

California Legislature Approves Assisted Suicide [New York Times]
In a landmark victory for supporters of assisted suicide, the California State Legislature on Friday gave final approval to a bill that would allow doctors to help terminally ill people end their own lives. Four states — Oregon, Washington, Montana and Vermont — already allow physicians to prescribe life-ending medication to some patients. The California bill, which passed Friday in the State Senate by a vote of 23-14, will now go to Gov. Jerry Brown, who will roughly triple access to doctor-assisted suicide across the country if he signs it. Mr. Brown, a former Jesuit seminarian, has given little indication of his intentions.
posted by Fizz (35 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is good news.
posted by SPrintF at 4:42 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


Today the UK MPs rejected a similar bill with an overwhelming majority. It was the first time the matter was discussed in parliament in 20 years. The Tories may claim to be for freedom of choice, but... yeah. Actions speak louder than words.

But this could still be blocked by Gov. Brown in California?
posted by harujion at 4:46 PM on September 11, 2015


The boomers are gonna make this happen, and for once we'll be thanking them.
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:51 PM on September 11, 2015 [16 favorites]


I was already determined to retire in California if possible; this just depends my resolve.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:53 PM on September 11, 2015 [4 favorites]


But this could still be blocked by Gov. Brown in California?

Moonbeam is fundamentally good people. I'd be amazed if he turned his back that hard on the will of the people in favor of trying to legislate his personal beliefs by fiat, but stranger things have happened.

I was already determined to retire in California if possible; this just depends my resolve.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:53 PM on September 11 [+] [!]


Eponysterical, horrifying, or horrifyingly eponysterical?
posted by The Master and Margarita Mix at 4:55 PM on September 11, 2015 [21 favorites]


Both of my parents died from cancer. My mother fought every inch of the way and wouldn't have given up for anything. My father wanted to go before the end; if it were offered he would have gone the assisted suicide route. Both of them lived well past the point they would have put an animal down to save it from suffering.

I really hope this becomes law so other people in their position have the legal choice to end their lives as they wish.
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 5:24 PM on September 11, 2015 [10 favorites]


Thank you for sharing, DrumsIntheDeep - your parents both sound like really strong people, each in their own way.
posted by pos at 5:35 PM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]





re: boomers:
Next, Ray Kurzweil (or other some such whose bucket lists consist of "not dying") patents a Silicon Valley version of SeppuKuma, the Japanese Suicide Bear (not).
posted by pos at 5:35 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


Is dementia covered?
posted by Beholder at 5:45 PM on September 11, 2015 [3 favorites]


Damn kids these days with their autocorrect.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:46 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


Huzzah!

Currently in Canada the supreme Court had struck down the ban on assisted suicide; they've given the federal government a year to put regulations in place (if they don't, it will just be legal with no restrictive regulations, like abortion is supposed to be).

Not much has happened yet in part because of the election; Quebec has started the process of actually figuring out how to do it, nobody else as far as I know. Current polling says lay people are like 75% in favour, but doctors only 30%. This is a problem, because I have trouble saying that this is a case like abortion or drug prescriptions where it's obviously part of the job and they should be forced to do it.

So rural access to dignity in death could be hard. I didn't see the actual bill in the linked article, does anyone know if it covers actual implementation?

Nonetheless. Good on ya, California!
posted by Lemurrhea at 5:46 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


Is this going to go to the Supreme Court?
posted by dilaudid at 6:05 PM on September 11, 2015


As I'm getting older, and seeing how my parent's lives ended, I hope I'm able to excercise this option, without endangering my spouse/children.
posted by Windopaene at 6:14 PM on September 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


Oh thank god.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:22 PM on September 11, 2015




I am so happy this passed. My mom has Alzheimers, and it's good to know she has this option available if she chooses.
posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 6:37 PM on September 11, 2015


For those who maybe havn't been exposed to this there's of course the How to Die in Oregon documentary (on my list but I haven't watched it yet.) But also if you don't have movie-time there's this shorter 14 min Retro Report about the right to die and the history of the rulings and Dr. Kevorkian and how those bans have affected real patients.

One of the things that really hit hard was how some doctors want to help end their patient's suffering but aren't legally allowed to. Which then leaves the patient with the option to be loaded up on pain meds while they voluntarily decline food and water and IV liquids until their body shuts down.

Obviously this whole situation around terminal illness and assisted suicide is complex, however the pure strength and willingness to endure your last days purposefully refusing food and water means that the pain of continuing to live must be much worse. In these situations I'd hope that legislature and doctors can grant them some comfort in choosing to end their suffering in a less painful way.
posted by Crystalinne at 6:56 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


"In the Netherlands, assisted suicide is legal – and not just for those with terminal illnesses. At one clinic in The Hague, anyone with ‘unbearable suffering’ can be given the relief they seek"

Just in: going Dutch on death
posted by pos at 7:09 PM on September 11, 2015


Oh, hey, in other news I am amused that someone from my area turned up in the photo with giant earrings.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:09 PM on September 11, 2015


In California doctors and nurses can hasten a patient's death so long as the primary reason of the treatment is to treat symptoms rather than kill.

I had one friend go this way, and the medical staff first obtained consent from my friend and my friend's famuly, and yet was careful not to say "yes, we're going to end your life."

This law I suspect would make the process more transparent and also less stressful, and I'm glad for that. People deserve good lives and good ends.
posted by zippy at 7:13 PM on September 11, 2015 [1 favorite]


I so want this choice. I hope Brown signs it into law.
posted by Bella Donna at 7:30 PM on September 11, 2015


I'm watching How to Die in Oregon right now, and it's interesting. They follow a person who works for a death-with-dignity organization, and she makes the point that a lot of her patients get the drugs and don't take them. What they want is control: they get to decide what happens, and if they choose not to commit suicide, then that was a choice. And I can understand the idea that having a choice would be a gift, even if you chose never to take the drugs.

I think it's a little weird that the article identifies Dr. Kheriaty as the director of the medical ethics program at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine but doesn't say that he's the author of "The Catholic Guide to Depression" and that his medical practice is deeply informed by his Catholic faith. And I'm sorry, but I'm not a Catholic, and I don't care what the Catholic church says about how I live my life.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:48 PM on September 11, 2015 [10 favorites]


Can foreigners travel to the Netherlands and be seen by a Dutch doctor?
posted by Windopaene at 10:13 PM on September 11, 2015


I'm so glad this passed. The more options that are available for end of life choices the better.
posted by AlexiaSky at 10:30 PM on September 11, 2015


CA peeps: Write Jerry!
posted by persona au gratin at 11:30 PM on September 11, 2015


Proud of my state!
posted by persona au gratin at 11:31 PM on September 11, 2015


This change in the law will also save a lot of money in pensions which won't need to be paid, lower the state's health care costs, speed up the collection of estate taxes, and help prevent future tax increases. What's not to like?
posted by three blind mice at 12:00 AM on September 12, 2015


on the UK vote
posted by pos at 4:11 AM on September 12, 2015


3BM, yes that's surely the calculation that led to this law being passed. As we know, California is always on the verge of bankruptcy, both financially and morally.
posted by sneebler at 6:49 AM on September 12, 2015


My almost 98 year old grandmother is sick as hell and hasn't wanted to keep going for at least a year. Her housing and medical treatments (that have succeeded in keeping her alive but failed to give her any quality of life) cost over $200k last year. I have to think this is good news for a lot of people.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:01 AM on September 12, 2015


My almost 98 year old grandmother is sick as hell and hasn't wanted to keep going for at least a year. Her housing and medical treatments (that have succeeded in keeping her alive but failed to give her any quality of life) cost over $200k last year. I have to think this is good news for a lot of people.

This is a different scenario than assisted suicide. In Belgium you have perfectly healthy people committing suicide for no good reason.

Anyway, a "right to die" framework MUST include better palliative care, better access to mental counseling and other ways that improve end of life.

It's also chilling that one of the "benefit" of right to die is lowering the tax burden.

"Okay then, you cost too much, we don't want to help your mental or physical pain, so fuck off and die."
posted by Nevin at 8:09 AM on September 12, 2015 [3 favorites]


It's good to have options. The greater need though, is for palliative care. Many thousands of people need it, but few physicians are skilled at it. The wikipedia page describes it pretty well:

Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to specialised medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal of such therapy is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is provided by a team of physicians, nurses, and other health professionals who work together with the primary care physician and referred specialists (or, for patients who don't have those, hospital or hospice staff) to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided along with curative treatment.
posted by neuron at 8:40 AM on September 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


My mother is 78 and lives in a retirement community in California. She and I talk about this stuff all the time. Yes it is easy to envision old folks being hastened off because it is convenient but the idea of living past the time when you can be independent and enjoy daily life is a miserable thought. I will kill myself-- whether it is legal or not-- before going into a nursing home to be dressed and fed by strangers and spend my day staring out a window.

True story. I just went to a funeral on Wednesday. My husband's great uncle died sitting on his own porch, one boot off and one boot on. He was found several hours later. He had never married so he was always very independent. What a fabulous way to go-- I don't think many people would disagree. That is how I want to die but I hope my husband will be there to hold my hand.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 11:26 AM on September 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


In Belgium you have perfectly healthy people committing suicide for no good reason.

That you know of. Kind of a key point.

Everyone has the right to end their life. It only makes sense to provide a framework whereby people can do so safely and with dignity, with no shock to the people around them, safeguarded by counselling to rule out psychosis/depression (and even then, I think that if someone is untreatably depressed there comes a point at which it's reasonable for them to want to check out, no different than terminal cancer). And the point for me is that, as long as you are capable of making informed consent, your reasons are nobody's business but your own.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:51 PM on September 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


Jerry Brown’s signing message for ABx2 15: “I do not know what I would do if I were dying in prolonged and excruciating pain. I am certain, however, that it would be a comfort to be able to consider the options afforded by this bill. And I wouldn’t deny that right to others.”
posted by Going To Maine at 11:07 AM on October 11, 2015 [2 favorites]


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