Opinion: All Americans should have the end-of-life options available to Californians

To the editor: Recently The Times focused on California’s End of Life Option Act with two nicely complementary reports. (“She watched her ex-husband end his life under California’s new right-to-die law. ‘I felt proud,’” June 30, and “111 terminally ill patients took their own lives in first 6 months of California right-to-die law,” June 27)

One summarized statewide results from the first year that physician-assisted suicide was legal. It provided statistics showing just 111 suicides.

The other report featured the touching account of a local man whose terminal cancer left him with the prospect of suffering untreatable daily pain over the few months he was expected to live; he opted for physician-assisted suicide under the law.

Both reports militate strongly for other states to adopt laws like ours. Hard numbers suggest that precious few patients will select the suicide option. Poignant personal anecdotes point up how having that option available provides enormous relief both to patients and those dear to them.

These reports should be made available to the 82% of Americans who live in states without the empathetic option that our law provides.

Betty Turner, Sherman Oaks

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To the editor: On the first day of the new year, my partner and I drove to a friend’s house at the beach in Ventura. Originally from Canada, our friend had spent years working with special-needs children in this country.

Waiting for us at her house were her, her two sisters and her brother and his wife, all from Toronto. She was sitting in the living room, calm and collected as she always was. In her hands, she had the sheets of instructions that she would follow in the next half hour or so.

We brought a day bed into the center of the living room so we could all be around her. And then she began the process. I won’t go into the details, but this talented and giving woman was inspiring in her passing. We sat with her until there was no more breath or heartbeat, certified by a friend and caregiver who was present.

A call was made to a woman from the agency who came and did all the paperwork. She then called the man who would come and take my friend’s body, which she donated for scientific research. We took a walk on the beach and marveled at the strength of this good friend.

She did it her way.

Jerry Rutledge, West Hollywood

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To the editor: State data show that California’s law allowing doctors to prescribe lethal medication to certain terminally ill patients has been working well. Individuals “had this option to peacefully end intolerable suffering” and “died peacefully, rather than in agony.”

It thus appears that the American Civil Liberties Union’s concern about the death penalty being cruel and unusual punishment has been addressed. So, if the ACLU’s concern has been eliminated, why aren’t the same medications and procedures being used to conduct executions in California?

Joe Nedza, Newport Beach

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