More states legalize medically assisted suicide for terminal patients

[0:00] New York has become the 13th state, along with Washington, D.C., to legalize [0:05] medically-assisted suicide. More than a dozen other states are also considering [0:10] legalizing the practice which supporters call medical aid in dying. Stephanie Sy [0:15] traveled to both coasts to re-examine an issue that for decades has divided Americans along [0:21] moral and political lines. I have a brain tumor in my right frontal lobe. [0:27] Del DeLachman envisions a celebration for the day he dies. [0:31] We're going to have a fire going that day. I'll have my little guitar over there [0:36] and pick it up and strum it a little bit. And my sister's going to be here. My son's [0:40] going to be here. There'll be people here. And I don't want it to be a sad day. I just [0:46] want it to be a day, you know? [0:49] The Portland, Oregon, resident says he's planning to take a lethal dose of medication [0:54] on April 1. [0:55] Why did you choose April 1? [0:57] April 1. No greater fool am I, says I. So I thought that would be perfect. [1:08] He was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2017. Now 67 years old, he's undergone [1:16] near-constant chemotherapy and more than 50 radiation treatments. He had a compelling [1:22] reason to fight. [1:23] I have a granddaughter, and she was 3 at the time. [1:28] And you've had almost a decade now. [1:30] Yeah. And I see her every Wednesday. And I have since she was 3 months old. [1:35] But tumors have now spread to his brain and spine, and he's worried they'll lead [1:41] to a grueling death. [1:43] It's funny. Everybody says, you know, you're so brave. And it's like, no, I'm [1:48] being, I'm not brave. Because if I was brave, I would die painfully. You know, I would rather [1:55] not die painfully. [1:57] DeLashman meets the requirements of Oregon's death [2:01] with dignity law. Since 1997, the option has been available to adults who have a medical [2:07] prognosis of six months or less to live from at least two doctors and are deemed mentally [2:12] competent. They must also be able to take the drugs themselves. [2:16] Remember, there's no pressure to ever take the medication. Totally your choice. [2:21] Dr. Charles Blanke wrote the prescription for DeLashman. Blanke was one of the first [2:27] physicians in the U.S. to practice medical aid in dying. [2:31] An oncologist by training, he says demand has grown. [2:34] On the other hand, more and more of my patients seem to want this option. And I probably write [2:43] between 100 and 150 prescriptions per year. [2:46] Acceptance for legalizing what's also known as medically assisted suicide has been rising [2:51] steadily in the U.S. Polling in recent years has shown that more than 70 percent of Americans [2:58] support it. [2:59] The idea of authoring the end of your own life [3:02] is becoming less and less taboo. [3:05] Anita Hannig is a cultural anthropologist and the author of The Day I Die, the untold story [3:11] of assisted dying in America. [3:13] Medical aid in dying is actually increasingly being seen as a medical treatment that some, [3:18] and we're talking about a very small subset of the population, choose to avail themselves [3:23] of when they reach the end of their life and they have a terminal condition. [3:27] Since Oregon became the first state to allow assisted dying nearly 30 years ago, 12,000 [3:32] more states and Washington, D.C. have passed similar laws. Roughly 13,000 Americans have [3:38] used medical aid in dying, according to a nonprofit that tracks this data. [3:43] Who am I to deny you or your loved one what they're begging for at the end of their [3:50] life? [3:52] New York just approved legalization last month, reigniting opposition from long-time opponents, [3:58] including the Catholic Church. [3:59] So since the beginning of Christianity, it was very clear that God gives life only to God. [4:03] And that's what we're going to do. And that's what we're going to do. And that's what we're going to do. And that's what we're going to do. [4:05] So we're going to do everything we can to keep God from taking life away. [4:06] Father Peter Clark is the director of the Institute of Clinical Bioethics at St. Joseph's [4:11] University in Philadelphia. [4:14] He says even the phrase medical aid in dying is misleading. [4:18] You're committing suicide. [4:21] Medical aid in dying sounds very different. [4:23] It sounds like, you know, the doctors are helping you in the last stages of death and [4:28] dying. [4:29] But the help is intentionally terminating you. [4:32] So I mean, you can play semantics all you want. [4:35] same thing. But Clark says the Catholic Church is not against taking someone off [4:39] of a ventilator or removing a pacemaker and he believes more options could be [4:44] offered to make patients suffer less at the end of life. People are going to die [4:49] needlessly. It's a perspective that 80 year old Delaware resident and [4:55] disability rights advocate Denise McMullen Powell shares. I am shocked. [5:01] Society is so accepting of this and and their assumption of what suffering is by [5:08] offering you death instead of better health care instead of a better life. [5:13] McMullen Powell had polio as a child which has left her with long-term [5:18] disabilities. She's joined a lawsuit against the state of Delaware which [5:23] passed a medical aid and dying law last year. Among other concerns she fears that [5:28] people with disabilities will cut their lives short to [5:31] space. She says she's afraid that people with disabilities will cut their lives short to space. [5:32] She's afraid that people with disabilities will cut their lives short to space. [5:32] her families the expense of their care. For them to have that option puts [5:37] pressure on people with disabilities and makes us feel an obligation to die. [5:44] Opponents of assisted dying also often point to other countries as a warning [5:51] including Canada where next year people whose sole underlying condition is a [5:57] mental health disorder will become eligible. There's a slippery slope I mean [6:01] if you allow for this what comes next I mean look at the Netherlands look at [6:06] Luxembourg look at Belgium look at Switzerland they now allow people who [6:11] are mentally ill to do this. Oregon has had these laws in place for decades and [6:16] they have not gone down the slippery slope. Correct because but that's not to [6:21] say we can't so I mean you know it may not have happened in Oregon but it's [6:25] it's our closest neighbor Canada is allowing for it you know the church is [6:29] very concerned that that could come next year. Researcher Anita Hannig doesn't see [6:33] the U.S. going down that road. Among all the jurisdictions [6:37] that have legalized assisted dying the U.S. model is actually the most [6:42] restrictive and the gains that have been made in this country are hard won [6:46] and today I would say very few advocates of these laws are willing to push the [6:51] envelope on them for fear of losing them all together. There have been a whole [6:56] host of reasons put forward by opponents to death with dignity. They believe that [7:00] this is harming the patient. I feel the situation is the opposite. Dr. Charles [7:07] Blanke says he sees people suffering in ways that can't be relieved. What my patients want [7:14] for the most part is control. They cannot control their life at all. They can't control their cancer [7:20] but I can because of these drugs offer them essentially 100 percent control over their death [7:26] pretty much when and certainly how and I can say that it's going to happen without suffering. When [7:36] we met Del DeLashmet he was preparing to pick up his prescription and trying to make the most of the [7:42] time he has left. He took one last trip to the beach on Oregon's coast. Wrote love letters to [7:51] the people he'll leave behind. We had so much fun. We did. And pulled out old photos. Are you scared? [8:00] There's a part of me that's scared but there's a part of me that something profound is going to [8:09] happen to me on April 1st. Is there anything that would change your mind at this point? No no because [8:17] I want to go as me [8:19] you know the the guy that can smile and laugh and and and joke a little bit you know rather than be [8:28] a pile of pain whereas this way you know there's a good chance that I may be having a good day you [8:36] know you know and and and they can see me like that. For the PBS NewsHour I'm Stephanie Sy. [8:43] Support journalism you trust. Support PBS News. Donate now or [9:01] even better. [9:02] Start a monthly contribution today.