MANCHESTER JOURNAL

Editorial -  Friday, January 26

Death with Dignity

As the saying goes, growing old ain't for sissies.

That's especially true when the end of life beckons, accompanied by pain, illness and financial costs that threaten to bankrupt families and individuals who have no chance of recovering from their afflictions.

That's why we're pleased to see the State Legislature making another effort to craft a law that would make it legal for people to arrange for their passing to avoid the crushing pain, agony and medical expenses that often accompany the last years of life.

Many people, if not the overwhelming majority, will find life so precious, and the experience that awaits on the other side so fearful and uncertain, that every additional day that can be squeezed out of life is worth it. And of course the popular moral and legal codes have reinforced that, but for a growing number of people, some kind of alternative would be welcome.

Such an alternative would be provided for in the bill, H.44, that has been introduced by five representatives from a cross section of Vermont's political landscape. One of them is Rick Hube, from a district that includes the Northshire towns of Winhall, Londonderry, Stratton, Jamaica and Weston.

If passed, the law would offer people a way out of a medical, and presumably a financial, dilemma with respect and compassion. Hence the phrase, "Death with Dignity."

Vermont would become the second state in the U.S. to have such legislation, in the wake of Oregon's pioneering effort that has been in place since 1998.

Especially in our youth-obsessed culture, discussions of death are too often swept under the rug or put off until some undefined point in the future. No one enjoys the subject of our own inevitable demise. It's ironic that in an era when modern medical advances are prolonging life at an ever rapid rate, those same breakthroughs give people the chance to live to remarkable ages but often are unable to enjoy life to the fullness they want, and are instead increasingly hobbled by infirmities.

For those who have taken thoughtful consideration in consultation with friends and family members about the consequences of medically assisted suicide, it's high time the option to leave the material world in a graceful manner should be available. For others who feel that for moral or ethical reasons that is not an option, nothing changes.

The bill is likely to be controversial and provoke no small measure of debate. That's good too, but in the end, we hope it passes into law.