Speech Manuscript- Paige Barricklow

My papaw died 5 years ago from severe lung cancer. He passed quietly in his sleep and he wasn’t in much pain. A close family friend of mine died 2 years ago from a sudden, unexpected brain aneurysm. Earlier last year, my aunt died of cancer. For some people, death comes peacefully, or quickly, without prolonged pain, but for others, death comes slowly and painfully, destroying their bodies and souls bit by bit. Brittany Maynard was a 29 year old woman from California who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2014 and given 6 months to live. She decided that instead of dying a long, painful death to cancer, she would go on her own terms. Brittany then moved from her home state, where aid in dying was illegal at the time, to Oregon, where it is legal. She passed away in November of 2014, surrounded by her husband, mother, step-father, and best friend. Brittany was allowed to die with dignity. She was given the choice to die a long, painful death in hospice care or to take control of her own death and choose the time and place. This option is only available in 6 states in the U.S. at the moment, but many others have bills proposed in their state legislatures. So the question becomes, should more state legislatures legalize physician aid in dying for the terminally ill? Well, put simply, yes. In the case of terminally ill patients, aid in dying can provide them with a choice, a say in how they leave this world, a little bit of control in a situation where they never had before. (CNN and Compassion Choices)

So first let’s talk about how physician aid in dying works. Sometimes called death with dignity, this is currently only legal in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, California, Colorado, and Montana. A patient who wishes to receive aid in death must be a resident of a state where the law allows it. They must be 18 years old or older, mentally competent, and diagnosed with a terminal illness that gives them 6 months or less to live. They must also be able to self-administer the drug. Two physicians must determine if these requirements are met. The patient must first make an oral request to a physician licensed in that state while in that states borders. The physician must then inform the patient of their other options, like hospice. The physician must determine the patient meets the criteria as must the second physician. If the physician thinks the patient’s judgement is impaired, they must refer the patient to psychiatric evaluation. If the first oral request is approved, a second oral request must be made within 15 days. A written request must also be submitted any time after the first oral request. This must be witnessed my two other people, one of whom cannot be related to the patient, have any connection to the patient’s estate, or be in any way connected to their health care provider. The physician must then wait 48 hours before prescribing the medication. The prescription can be filled and taken any time after it is prescribed, except in California, where a Final Attestation Form must be submitted 48 hours prior to the taking of the medicine. Most of these medicines are over-doses of sleeping pills; the patient takes them, falls asleep, and dies painlessly in peace anywhere from 1 to 6 hours after the medication is taken. In the case of these terminally ill patients, compared to what they would have to go through to die naturally, unbearable pain, loss of motor function, loss of speech, loss of memory, and even more depending on the illness, being able to die in the comfort of their own home, surrounded by loved ones, in comparably little pain sounds like a pretty good option. (deathwithdiginty.org)

          Now one of the terms sometimes used to refer to aid in dying is assisted suicide, but this term is misleading. When people think of suicide, they think of depressed teenagers or returning soldiers who chose to take their own lives with guns, or pain killers, or knives, but that’s not what aid in death is. Aid in death doesn’t just go to anyone who asks for it. Patients must go through the process I mentioned earlier to be prescribed the drugs. If a patient is thought to have depression that inhibits their judgement they have to go through a psychological evaluation. One of the big reasons for oppositions to aid in death is the  potential for abuse, but that potential exists with any prescription drug, like oxytocin or anti-depressants. In fact, aid in death drugs are tracked much more carefully than regular prescription drugs. These drugs are controlled Schedule 2 substances meaning they are regulated by the federal government, so they are tracked from the moment they are prescribed, to the moment they are filled, until the patient has passed. Criminal penalties can be given if someone other than who the medicine was prescribed to takes it. Anyone who chooses not to take their medicine is required to dispose it in a legal way. There have been no reported cases of misuse of the medications in Oregon, Washington, or Vermont. (deathwithdignity.org)

          Some people think aid in dying shouldn’t be legal simply because they don’t think it’s needed. After all, patients can refuse treatment, effectively killing themselves at any point they want. There are cases of hospice patients pulling out their feeding tubes to end their lives. The point of aid in death is to provide patients with a choice of how they want to go. Hospice care is helpful in easing the pain and helping people ease into death in a comfortable environment where they are taken care of. While this is important, many patients are still in unbearable pain. Some slowly lose their memories, their motor skills, or their speech. They have to watch their families watch them die a long painful death. The point of Aid in death is to give the patient a choice. A choice to end pain if it gets too unbearable, a choice to die as themselves, not a shell of who they once were. (How to Die in Oregon)

           The ideal death for a lot of people is dying peacefully in their sleep, surrounded by the people who love them. When someone’s natural death could mean lots of pain and suffering, why would we deny them the right to this ideal death? Brittany Maynard did not want to die. She said, if someone found her a cure so she could live to raise a family with her husband, she wouldn’t hesitate to take that deal. But there is no cure. Brittany was going to die, no matter what she did and she knew it. So Brittany made a choice. She decided to uproot and move to another state so that she could die on her own terms. Sadly, not everyone is in a position where they can uproot their whole lives to another state to die with dignity. Is it really right to deny people who are dying the right to make the choice of how they go? Would you rather die on a hospital bed, in pain, unable to remember, speak, or move? Or would you rather be able to leave this world in your home, surrounded by people who love you the most, slowly drifting off to sleep?