Readers React: The freedom to end one’s own life

To the editor: I’m very pleased to witness this in my lifetime. (“The right to die in California,” Editorial, Oct. 6) I’m a senior and my years are numbered, and I want the choice to end excruciating pain, if I’m suffering it. Simple as that.

My view is that suffering pain is not noble; it is absolute hell for the sick person and for the caregivers.

If you have beliefs that you should and need to suffer, then you can — no one’s stopping you. But don’t force me to suffer. Thank you, governor.

Patricia Mace, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Whether or not we opt to end our lives with physician-prescribed medication, we need that option.

Assisting one’s death is not considered treatment and thus is opposed by many. The major theological reason people oppose euthanasia is that they believe God is the creator and that ending a life is overstepping human responsibility.

This is not necessarily the moral equivalent of suicide but rather an acceptance of the human condition. In making such a decision, the distinction between morally ordinary and extraordinary means is crucial and based on the patient’s “total good.”

Ultimately, the patient has the right to decide whether life-preserving measures will be used. A “gentle passing” should be legally permitted on a case-by-case basis, and Gov. Jerry Brown (a former seminarian) understandably grappled with this issue. He arrived at a fair and reasonable decision.

Richard Boudreau, Marina del Rey

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To the editor: I could not help but think about what the governor went through to sign this bill. I have always supported him in his political life, knowing that he does the right thing at the right time. He does not just think about his own morals but about how people are affected by his actions.

Ed Sinderman, Laguna Woods

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To the editor: How ironic that many Republicans in the Legislature, who claim to be all about freedom, liberty and limited government, apparently were OK with using government to force people with no hope of recovery to suffer prolonged, excruciating pain.

Surely a merciful God would not want his children treated that way. The governor did the right thing.

Steve Mehlman, Beaumont

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To the editor: Tim Rosales, a spokesman for Californians Against Assisted Suicide, says Brown’s signing of the End-Of-Life Act is a “dark day for California.”

I disagree. And I think I speak for many Californians against cruel and death-as-usual punishment when I say the day has never looked brighter.

Dennis Stone, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I didn’t even need to read beyond the subheadline to understand the governor’s motivation to sign the act: It makes him feel good about himself. In typical progressive logic, he asked himself: “Will I personally feel better after taking this action?” It’s the endgame of all progressive thought.

David Pohlod, Oak Park

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