Romeo C. Colorado

Physician-Assisted Suicide

People have the right to die with dignity other then embarrassment.

Dear Future President:

It has come to my attention that one major problem in our society is factually being ignored. It has come to my attention that many people in our society are not informed on how important the choice of Physicians Assisted Suicide really is. Also most do not understand how much of an impact it has on families and even more important how much it would help a person who is terminally ill. In many states the law for Physician-Assisted suicide is being passed.

This has became very important to me because I have seen and heard on the news stories of people who have to make the hard decision whether or not they want to end their lives, but they are able to choose that this is right for them. In many states they had passed these Assisted suicide acts such as, Oregon “Death with Dignity Act”, or California “End of life option Act”. Which the Bill was passed in these States because the government was able to see the type of power it had on people and how helpful it was for families. As I am doing research on the topic it is easy to see how important it is not only to the patient but to the Doctors too. According to Doctor John R. Peteet “As a psychiatrist in a cancer center for more than 35 years, I have seen hundreds of patients who, at times, wanted to die.” Peteet is pained by the inability to reduce the pain his patiens feel; he cares for his patients and can tell what bothers them so much.

From a patient's point of view you can see how much of a difference this choice was for this younger man Patrick Matheny who was 43 and had Lou Gehrig’s Disease and most commonly known as ALS disease (wrtl.org). Through his story you are able to see how big of an impact his family was on his decision on when he wanted to finally end his life. Which when he chose to do so he was able to calmly be at peace with his family; one thing he did want to make sure is that it was “ When he could no longer dress or wash himself”(Patrick Matheny).

Many people would say that this act is unjust because it is giving people a progressive way to kill themselves, but as many doctors and patients would say it is a way to die softly and a way to end all of the pain and embarrassment these patients go through. So as you could see this bill has a huge impact on many people and could change hundreds of lives. This bill could help people who are terminally ill with the fact of being able to choose the easy way out of not letting them selves feel lesser than anyone. Also letting them have a way to die with pride. Please keep this bill in your mind as it is not only important to me but is important to many families who want the best for their family member.

Sincerely,

Romeo C.