TOWNSHEND — In Vermont, we stand up for human rights, fighting against atrocities like the death penalty, knowing that if we allow the state to kill its own citizens, surely we have lost sight of the value of humanity.
So what is happening now with the introduction, again, of a bill that would allow the taking of human life?
I am referring to the pleasantly renamed “Death with Dignity” bill. In 2007, it was called “Physician-Assisted Suicide,” and our Vermont legislature rejected the bill under pressure from constituents. We weren't tricked by the proponents' rhetoric then, and we shouldn't be tricked now.
The bill's proponents might have changed the wording to make the bill sound more dignified, but they are still trying to get us to swallow a bitter pill - that our doctors, who are supposed to save lives and make us comfortable as we head toward death, could instead give lethal prescriptions to end our lives.
My mother died from breast cancer. She struggled with the disease for many years, enduring surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy. She fought with dignity until the doctors told her that they had nothing left to stop the cancer. We had Hospice at the end, and my mom died in her own bed, in her own house, with her husband and children by her side.
My mom lived longer than the doctors expected, and she got to spend time with her grandchildren, her children, and her husband.
Those years were gifts. What if a doctor had been able to prescribe a lethal concoction of drugs to end my mother's life? Would they have pushed that option on her? Would they have weighed the high costs of chemotherapy and radiation against the cost of a bottle of pills? Would the doctors have felt pressure from the insurance companies?
If that scenario sounds impossible, it's not. In Oregon, state medical insurance has refused to pay for terminally ill patients to receive treatments that would extend their lives while agreeing to pay for the lethal drugs that would end their lives.
And what about the message that we'd be sending to our young people? Do we really want to tell teens that sometimes suicide is acceptable?
I've had friends so distraught they considered suicide. Luckily, they sought counseling and found a way out of despair. But others have “succeeded.”
I know that when a young person takes his or her own life, we are all appalled. How could we have reached out to that person? Why didn't anyone notice the signs? A thousand questions go through our minds.
Our society does not condone suicide because we see it for the tragedy that it is: loss of human life. In valuing life, we celebrate births, marriages, family, and friendship. We care for our sick, and we mourn our dead.
Truth matters. Lives matter. The slick words used to try and trick us into thinking otherwise won't work. We know better, and it's time we let our legislators know we won't be fooled.