KevinMD.com: Roger Kligler, MD – Medical aid in dying is not assisted suicide
Oct 18, 2020 Massachusetts Massachusetts End of Life Options Act
An excerpt from the KevinMD.com blog post, “Medical aid in dying is not assisted suicide,” by Roger Kligler, MD, published October 18, 2020:
"In the KevinMD article, 'Assisted suicide: a change of heart,' the author contends that there is salvation in suffering, but not everyone believes that is true. While I support the author’s ability to decide how she wants to die, I do not believe that her personal beliefs should dictate how I die…
...I have stage IV metastatic prostate cancer, and I am in the last stage of my disease, so this issue is personal for me.
This (COVID-19) pandemic demonstrates the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, the fragility of life, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our health care system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.
One important step towards achieving this goal is to authorize medical aid in dying as an end-of-life care option for every terminally ill, mentally capable adult, so everyone is empowered to make end-of-life care decisions based on their unique culture, beliefs, and spiritual values..."
