mactrunk
Just as the Gazette did in its Dec. 30 editorial, I want to express my strong support of the End of Life Options Act (H1194) in the state Legislature.
I have read the bill carefully, and appreciate the extensive safeguards built into it. Like many others locally and statewide, I feel strongly about the issue of medical and compassionate aid in dying, and the importance of autonomous decision-making at the end of life.
I also feel strongly about the bill’s emphasis on the provision of options, knowing that those who oppose the idea, either doctors or laypeople, from a place of conscience, religious or moral teaching, don’t have to participate or take advantage of this law.
I write as a local rabbi who, for the last 17 years, has worked as a health care chaplain serving frail elders, in hospice, palliative and long-term care settings. I also write out of my own concerns and convictions, not representing the views of any institution or agency.
Many of the residents and patients I work with are also deeply concerned with these issues. They speak about feeling a loss of autonomy, and bemoan the loss of functioning that prevents them from doing the things that give them joy. They talk not about a fear of death but rather about their fears of suffering and pain that they anticipate in the dying process.
While hospice and palliative programs make every effort to relieve suffering and manage pain, and do a great job in often very difficult situations with limited health care resources, many of us in the field have watched as some people, despite significant efforts, go through very bad deaths, enduring significant physical and emotional pain.
I often witness a lot of confusion in end-of-life care. Family members often request everything possible to extend their loved one’s life, hoping to have more time with their loved one. Sadly, they too often end up extending their loved one’s dying process, including pain and suffering, something they never would have wanted to do.
Lest we forget, for many years some individuals and religious groups worked hard to oppose hospice care in this country. While hospice continues to inspire fear in some who misunderstand its goals, many others have recognized its great benefits in promoting better, more humane, end-of-life care.
This bill feels, at least to me, like the next step in our evolving efforts to provide more compassionate care.
Rabbi Devorah Jacobson
Amherst
