RSSDeath with Dignity Needs Support
By Cynthia Parent, The Rutland [Vermont] Herald, April 14, 2006
Opinion
Imagine you are at a party, you are having a good time when suddenly you trip, spill your food all over you and crack open your head on the table on the way down. You go to leave, but others at the party say "No. We don't think so. You go when the party is over." Outrageous? Yes, but a simple analogy that illustrates our lack of freedom to chose to die if we become terminally ill.
Our Vermont House Human Services Committee is about to vote on the death with dignity legislation. This legislation in effect gives you the right to "leave the party" when you feel it's time to "go," not when others who are having a grand 'ol time say you can "go."
I support the death with dignity legislation, and believe that those who actively work against this legislation are those who gain financially by prolonging the life of those who are terminally ill. As the field of medicine has advanced to keep us alive ... it often can only keep us alive in states of being that are often only hell on earth.
This legislation defines a democratic society. Those who do not feel that death with dignity choice is right for them, for religious or other reasons, obviously will not be impacted, as this is not a law that enforces death with dignity. Rather this legislation will offer the option only to those who believe, as a free member of our society, that it is solely a Vermonter's choice to decide when we have suffered enough and wish to die.
A government that tells a person how they will live and die is not a democracy it is a dictatorship. The argument that such legislation will open up possible abuses is absurd, as we know that even the very best legislation that has been passed still is subject to those who corrupt, misuse and abuse it. If our goal were to only allow perfect legislation to pass, we would be a lawless country.
Please ask your legislator to contact colleagues on the committee to urge a favorable vote.
Cynthia Parent
Middletown Springs
Share on StumbleUpon
Defend dignity. Take action.
For more than 14 years, the Death with Dignity National Center (DDNC), a 501(c)(3), non-partisan, non-profit organization, has been the leading advocate in the death with dignity movement. Leaders in our organization originally wrote and have continued advocating for the Oregon Death with Dignity Law. DDNC has met these challenges through extensive legal defense of the Oregon law, education and outreach programs, and by developing and nurturing diverse financial resources with one goal in mind: to ensure DDNC's financial vitality and its position as a leader in the death with dignity movement.
Your donation today will enable us to continue to advocate for the right of the terminally ill to die with dignity. Please click here to give a secure, online donation. Thank you.
Get Email Updates
Sign up for the latest news, blogs, and action alerts in the fight for Death with Dignity.
Political Action Fund
The Death with Dignity National Center partners with the Oregon Death with Dignity Political Action Fund (the Fund) to conduct lobbying and political activities in order to achieve the enactment of Death with Dignity laws in other states. The partnership resulted in tremendous success with the resounding win in the 2008 Washington Death with Dignity campaign.
Learn more about the Fund's efforts to bring dignity to people around the nation.
About Death with Dignity
The greatest human freedom is to live, and die, according to one's own desires and beliefs. The most common desire among those with a terminal illness is to die with some measure of dignity. From advance directives to physician-assisted dying, death with dignity is a movement to provide options for the dying to control their own end-of-life care.
Death with Dignity National Center (DDNC) is the leader in this movement, successfully establishing, advancing and defending the landmark Oregon Death with Dignity Act -- a national catalyst for openly discussing and actively reforming end-of-life care for those who are terminally ill.
Learn more about the National Center and our family of organizations.
Patients & Families
The Death with Dignity National Center was formed out of a profound commitment to the idea that personal end-of-life decisions should be made solely between a patient and a physician. Based on this commitment, we are pleased to provide you with support and information as you face the difficult challenges ahead.
Research Center
We have compiled a comprehensive collection of legal briefs, journal articles, and newspaper clippings. We invite you to explore the wide array of information we have collected throughout our history.
In our Research Center you will find frequently asked questions, the history of the death with dignity movement, state monitoring statistics, and a copy of this groundbreaking statute.
