Bennington Banner editorial, Saturday, March 3, 2007

Allow choice at the end

The Vermont House has been presented with new legislation, called the Vermont Patient Choice and Control at the End of Life Act. The proposed act was discussed by hundreds of Vermonters on Tuesday before the House Human Services Committee, which later endorsed the measure.

Why shouldn't it? A recent poll shows that 82 percent of Vermonters support the right of the mentally competent to request suicide drugs from a physician. The reason why one would want such a bill seems self-evident — there's any number of medical horror stories out there, and unfortunately some of us are going to find out about them personally. When it happens, those involved will want options, especially if confronted by an incurable, painful condition. So, what is the reasoning against such a seemingly intuitive position? So far, only two concrete arguments against the act have emerged:

1. Some religious groups believe it is sacrilegious to take one's life, and

2. There is a concern that physicians might abuse such a law.

Dealing with the first point, it may be futile to argue with a belief system. A separation of church and state was created by the nation's founders with good reason — many had direct experience with religious repression. If one's religious beliefs don't allow one to commit suicide, so be it; however, that does not give anyone the right to choose for people who are near the end of life.

The second concern — that physicians, given the option, would somehow pressure 'yes' would be an understanding that this wasn't going to hinder the doctor-patient relationship when they are in that stage of life.

Certainly, it's conceivable that someone may make an irreversible decision too hastily, but we do not ask our doctors to be our confessors, only to tell us accurately what our chances of survival are and what our quality of life is likely to be. If doctors start misdiagnosing people and recommending they kill themselves, then they are simply bad doctors.

We can't promise that there won't be bad doctors, we can't promise that there won't be terrible diseases, and we can't promise that bad things won't happen to good people. Vermont can't promise fortune — only freedom of choice. In a world in which we will all surely die, that's as much as we can ask for.