Yes on I-1000: It’s about compassion at the end of life

Published 4:10 pm Friday, October 3, 2008

I recently said goodbye to one of my dearest friends. A victim of prostate cancer, he tried everything to prolong his life — radiation, chemo, surgery, and a wide variety of pain medications. Because of his adverse reaction to the medications, he became one of the small percentage of terminally ill patients whose symptoms cannot be managed, and whose suffering cannot be alleviated. After months of agony, he died an excruciatingly painful death.

Nothing eased his pain during his two last months. While he begged for help and for the pain to end, all I could do was sit with him and hold his hand. As someone who has always been a successful problem-solver, I have never felt so helpless. I have never so deeply questioned my sense of compassion. Seeing my friend in such unmanaged and uncontrolled pain, and knowing that his last months were only to be filled with unremitting agony, seemed anything but compassionate.

Most of us want to live healthy, productive lives of contribution, dignity and mutual respect. And most of us hope that when it is our time to die, we will do so quickly, easily, painlessly and with the same dignity that guided our lives. How each of us experiences the end of our life is a deeply personal choice based on our own beliefs and desires.

On Nov. 4, voters across Washington will have an opportunity to vote on I-1000, the Death with Dignity Initiative. This initiative will allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults, who are deemed by two independent physicians to be within six months or less of death, the legal option to obtain and self-administer life-ending medication. Eligible patients would have the option of making a voluntary, legal, informed and personal choice with their physician and their families, at the time when they feel it is right.

The initiative, which includes many, many safeguards, closely mirrors the Oregon law passed in 1994.

While I-1000 critics argue that the vulnerable and those with poor access to health care would be pushed into life-ending choices, Oregon’s track record demonstrates that the reality is far different.

Since the passage of this law over 10 years ago in Oregon, only 341 people have chosen to end their lives, and the majority of these were both college-educated and covered by private insurance. Coercion itself is made a Class A felony under the law, and any person who attempted to coerce a terminally ill patient into taking the medication before they were ready would be risking life in prison and a $50,000 fine. More importantly, I-1000 recognizes the individual right and ability of terminally ill patients to make their own decisions about their own end-of-life care.

Nationally and locally, the upcoming election is about choice, change, the power of the individual, and the appropriate limits of government. The many safeguards in I-1000 protect individual rights and the patient’s choice by addressing legitimate concerns and preventing any potential abuses. Initiative 1000 does not mandate any action, it just provides a compassionate choice that each terminally ill patient can make for him/herself. It is a deeply personal choice — and one that should not be mandated or restricted by government.

The beauty and strength of our country is that it is filled with diversity, acceptance and tolerance. We value our freedom and our individual rights, and we value the right to decide what we believe without having any prescribed set of beliefs forced upon us. Initiative 1000 protects that freedom and right to decide for ourselves.

I wish that I-1000 had been in place for my friend. While he may not have chosen to take advantage of this initiative, merely knowing that he had some options might have helped him release the fear of new pain that could come at any moment or the discomfort he was forced to endure. If he had safe and legal options, and the peace of mind that those options allow, then maybe, when he had fleeting tolerable moments, he might have relaxed and enjoyed a smile with his friends and family.

With the passage of I-1000, a terminally ill patient would be given the opportunity to make choices about his/her own body, about the quality of his/her own life. Allowing a terminally ill person to choose how they will spend their last days is an act of compassion.

I urge you to vote yes on I-1000.

Pamela Katims Steele is a volunteer for Yes on 1000 — the Death with Dignity initiative. Visit www.yeson1000.com.