Death With Dignity Should Live
Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 12:14PM Union Leader reporter Dan Tuohy had it right (thankfully it wasn't Tom Fahey or it would have been wrong as usual). Great picture of the back of my head on page 3, not that you should rush out to buy the paper!
Yes, I was animated when I testified before the Judiciary Committee on Rep. Chuck Weed's "death with dignity" bill (HB513) yesterday. In fact this is one area where liberal Democrats like Rep. Weed and libertarian-minded Republcans like me enthusiastically come together.
As a Libertarian who believes in personal freedom and responsibility, I can think of no reason why governement should be able to tell you when you should end your life. Rep Weed's bill would allow doctor-assisted suicide similar to Oregon and Washington. While I would prefer that government not get involved in death decisions at all (in other words, totally legalize suicides), this bill is a reasonable attempt to address medical ethics involved.
We should live up to New Hampshire's "live free or die" motto, fully realizing that living free is only half of that slogan. Freedom to die should be equally important to those of us who oppose nanny state government, who recoil at government intrusion into our lives (and our deaths).
The problem of course is that if I attempt to kill myself without the help of a doctor, I may botch up the effort. I may leave myself in a maimed condition and live on at state expense. That's why the assist from doctors is important.
Rep Weed's bill notes that only terminally ill patients would be eligible. It's a step in the right direction of allowing individuals to control their own destiny.
I suspect the Union Leader headline is correct, that assisted suicide will be dead on arrival. Great pun, but the bill deserves a fate better than death. It won't pass, but rest assured that it won't be buried without a vigorous floor fight. Many of the 297 Republicans elected on the pledge of less government control of our lives should join with many of the 102 Democrats who in this one case really do beleive in personal freedom and keep death with dignity alive.
Reader Comments (1)
I disagree with Representative Valliancourt’s take on Assisted Suicide. It is not the state’s responsibility to assure that all suicides succeed. In addition even if someone receives poison from a doctor there is no assurance that their suicide will not have complications as there is no witness required at the death. Doctors are not present.
This bill is not about choice, we have that now. It is about abuse and discrimination. It is abusive to suggest to a person that they should kill themselves. It is open to abuse when once a person signs for a lethal dose they have given their right away. At that point a “greedy heir” or “new best friend” could slip the poison to them, perhaps getting them intoxicated first. Even if they struggle, who would know? The bill says that the death certificate is to say they died from natural causes, no questions asked. And it is discriminating to encourage young healthy people not to commit suicide while encouraging the old, sick and disabled to kill themselves.