Whiting: Propelled by Brittany Maynard's story, California considers its own 'death with dignity' bill

April 8, 2015
Updated 6:24 a.m.
A photo of Brittany Maynard sits on the dais of the Senate Health Committee as lawmakers took testimony on proposed legislation allowing doctors to prescribe life ending medication to terminally ill patients, at the Capitol in Sacramento, Wednesday. Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old San Francisco Bay Area woman who had terminal cancer, moved to Oregon where she could legally end her life. The bill was approve by the committee by a 5-2 vote.RICH PEDRONCELLI, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BY DAVID WHITING
/ STAFF COLUMNIST

'End of Life Option' bill

What: Senate Bill 128 gives access to life-ending medications if adults face death from a terminal illness within six months, two witnesses witness their request and two doctors agree on a diagnosis.

Path: Introduced by State Sens. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, and Lois Wolk, D-Davis. Approved by Senate Health Committee on March 25, Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.


What's next: The bill goes to the full Senate.


More information


Death with Dignity: deathwithdignity.org
Catholic Diocese response: rcbo.org
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PORTLAND, Ore. – On a table in the waiting area of the Death With Dignity National Center, Brittany Maynard looks up from two People magazine covers.

Seeing the photo of the UCI graduate – who moved to this city from California so she could hasten her death – is a strange and somber sensation. Her death was nearly six months ago, but her legacy is very much alive – and growing stronger.

On Tuesday, California’s Senate Judiciary Committee approved death-with-dignity legislation called the End of Life Option. Two weeks ago, the bill was approved by the Senate Health Committee, after a video was released of Maynard urging the legislation’s passage. Now, the bill goes to the full Senate for consideration.

In her 12th-floor office overlooking Portland’s bustling downtown, Peg Sandeen, the center’s executive director, points out that some two dozen states are considering death-with-dignity legislation. But the real battle for the center focuses on five states – and California is at the top of that list.

“We work the political side,” Sandeen explains. “Every day there is a conversation: How do we get this law passed?”

For a little while at least, the wind is at Sandeen’s back, with the momentum coming mostly from Maynard’s tragic story of a 29-year-old with terminal brain cancer wanting to control her life and avoid suffering.

“How dare the government make decisions or limit options for terminally ill people like me?” Maynard says in the video.

It took years for death with dignity to gain such mainstream support. And what is going on in Oregon offers a glimpse into what we can expect in California’s future, a future that already has the religious community aghast.

DOCTORS SPLIT

It is August 2013, and I knock on the back door of a little clinic in a little town in southern Oregon. It is after hours, and the doctor here, who has helped 20 patients through the death-with-dignity process, only agreed to the visit if his identity is masked.

Not only is he concerned that many of his current patients would be up in arms if they knew he assisted in such matters, but the doctor says his own father – a physician – would be furious.

Understand, the split is wide over what the Hippocratic oath means in an era in which we can extend life further than ever. The doctor estimates most Oregon physicians decline to write death-with-dignity prescriptions, an opt-out that’s allowed under the law.

“These are tough decisions,” the doctor allows. “I’ve accepted this. Sometimes it’s your role as a physician to comfort patients in their final days.”

The doctor says he makes it a practice to never attend a patient’s death. This sounds odd. But the physician explains that his presence alone may put undue pressure on the patient to go through with the process.

“I give them every chance to change their mind,” he explains. “I want to be sure it’s the patient’s decision and theirs alone.”

California’s proposed bill is modeled after Oregon’s, which requires patients be of sound mind, that they make the request on their own and that they have a terminal illness that will end life within six months.

Additionally, two witnesses must be present when they sign a document and two physicians must agree on the diagnosis.

The doctor softly tells me he’s uncomfortable with fewer restrictions. Yet he also says death-with-dignity laws should be approved in other states.

“I think the demand,” he predicts, “is going to go up as we age as a society.”

PROLONGED BATTLE

Back in Orange County, I visit Irene Shannon. She is 93 and tells me that 35 years ago she watched helplessly as her mother’s cancer-riddled body disintegrated into a bundle of pain. She recalls her mother’s last words: “Please, God, come and take me.”

The ordeal prompted Shannon to co-found Orange County’s chapter of the Hemlock Society, an early version of the death-with-dignity movement. Shannon also helped push California’s 1992 voter referendum on physician-assisted death, which received only 46 percent approval.

Back when Shannon was a crusader, she worked Hemlock Society phones and told a newspaper, “There are a lot of elderly people out there who want to die. They live alone and they have physical and mental problems, and they wish they could die. There is no quality of life left and no joy in living.”

Today, Shannon lives in a combination skilled nursing facility and hospice in Huntington Beach. On a recent afternoon we share, Shannon sits in bed propped up by pillows.

Shannon says her mother was 90 years old and weighed 75 pounds when she died. “I tried to find doctors to dull the pain but …” she says, her voice trailing off.

When Shannon has a bad day, she wraps a stuffed monkey’s arms around her neck. Smiling, she confides, “Her name is Maryanne.”

But Shannon points out that for many, a fuzzy monkey isn’t enough. Of hoping death with dignity will become legal in California, Shannon says, “We are so concerned with our puppy dogs’ and cats’ pain, we put them down.”

Then she asks, “Why don’t we do that with people?”

IS IT SUICIDE?

Like the good and caring doctor I visited in southern Oregon, Sandeen in Portland is satisfied with the language in death with dignity legislation. She likes the six-month restriction and is confident the law safeguards people who might be “more vulnerable to coercion.”

But doesn’t hospice offer the same thing as death with dignity?

“I’m not saying hospice doesn’t do its job,” Sandeen says, choosing her words carefully while addressing one of the major criticisms of death with dignity. “But 100 percent of pain is not controlled. This offers another choice.”

I suggest that for centuries, many doctors have quietly helped patients die. Sometimes, simply leaving enough morphine in a room is enough.

“In Oregon we prefer to shine a light on the process,” Sandeen states. “This is not something to be done with a wink and a nod. There are safeguards and steps to follow that are accountable.”

Sandeen also differentiates between someone who is suicidal because of depression and someone facing a terminal illness, such as Brittany Maynard.

“They don’t want to die. They want to live. It’s not a suicide, but the ability to control the manner of their impending death.”

Several religious organizations, however, call the end-of-life option “assisted suicide.” The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange is sponsoring a daylong public meeting Saturday at Servite High School to discuss the issue and how to respond to the proposed bill.

The Bishop of Orange, Kevin Vann, is a smart, thoughtful and particularly compassionate man. Here is an excerpt from his meditation on the matter following his father’s recent death:

“Finding hope and peace in dying and death, and realizing that the decisions about both life and death are not ours but God’s to make, allows the Lord to take the lead. When we are on the verge of something eternal, it’s a God-given moment.”

Today, only three states, Oregon, Washington and Vermont, have death-with-dignity laws. Maynard was one of only 105 people in Oregon who used the law last year to die. Yes, the numbers are relatively small.

But considering how hard we fight for freedom of choice in our lives, the end-of-life option is something that should be available when facing death.

Contact the writer: dwhiting@ocregister.com

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/d...y-shannon.html