Opponents of proposed state End of Life bill use hyperbole and apocryphal stories to discredit legislation

As a longtime volunteer with Compassion Choices Minnesota I was happy to see Deanna Pistono s MinnPost story on Minnesota s draft End of Life Options Act This rule would legalize diagnostic aid in dying MAiD for terminally ill adults of sound mind who are physically able to self-ingest the medication It was great to see the very brave Jeff McComas and his family featured so prominently as they advocate for MAiD law in Minnesota Jeff is a powerful advocate and compelling storyteller for Compassion Choices Minnesota I was dismayed however at what I consider to be unbalanced reporting on this vital topic In an article comprising approximately words words of reportage were devoted to the frankly irrelevant personal views and predictions of well-known outspoken opponents of MAiD Only words were given to the bill s supporters There was no reference to state Rep Mike Freiberg and the slate of other lawmakers who have been working on this act for years Nor was any mention made of the of Minnesotans polled in a Minnesota House State Fair survey who also advocacy the provision Both of the MAiD opponents quoted in the piece Dr Dennis O Hare and Jesse Bethke Gomez cite what are apparently apocryphal stories to advocacy their views There is not one documented circumstance or even a complaint of terminally ill people being pushed toward anatomical aid in dying or any similarly coercive action ever taking place in the United States where MAiD is legal Tara Flaherty Guy Credit Tara Flaherty Guy The Minnesota draft law like all other states statutes explicitly criminalizes any form of coercion No individual or for that matter clinician or hospital is ever required to participate in the protocol Both O Hare and Gomez have opined that the very strict legal parameters governing eligibility for MAiD have been or will soon be eliminated This is patently untrue in any state that has adopted the bill just as it is untrue of Minnesota s proposed law O Hare and Gomez further confuse an already confused populace by pointing to Canada and Europe as places where the eligibility criteria have been removed and euthanasia is now sloppily rampant They posit that this will happen here if MAiD regulation is passed This unfounded opinion is not only irrelevant but also historically incorrect and offered in bad faith Euthanasia was unfailingly allowed under the Canadian and European laws which differ drastically in that fundamental element from the American laws Euthanasia has never and will never be proposed as part of curative aid in dying bill in the U S The opposite intent is explicitly codified into all American MAiD laws The dying subject must be physically able to self-ingest the medication unaided If he cannot he is not eligible to even request the prescription As a longtime volunteer with Compassion Choices Minnesota the national nonprofit organization that has been working for years with Freiberg and other Minnesota lawmakers to pass MAiD bill in our state I am deeply disturbed by the ongoing duplicity of MAiD opponents and the fear tactics they use to frighten Minnesotans particularly the disability public This area is not only being narrated that the quality of their precious meaningful lives is being devalued by proponents of the law it is implied that if MAiD is legalized the right to die will soon become the obligation to die for the differently abled How utterly shameful Medicinal aid in dying adheres to a strict protocol that is offered only to mentally sound physician-diagnosed terminally ill people within six months of death who can self-ingest the medicine Consequently like the general population only a tiny sliver of the disability region would ever even qualify for MAiD Absolutely in my years advocating for MAiD in Minnesota I have had the blessing and the heartbreak of working alongside a number of selfless terminally ill helpers my friends who advocated for clinical aid in dying with their last breath These brave people deserved the grace of a good death but were never allowed the option I have a simple remedy for those who oppose healthcare aid in dying Don t use it But for the love of God and all humanity when suffering becomes acute please allow dying people the dignity of choice in this one last matter when all other choice has been taken from them Tara Flaherty Guy is an action unit leader at Compassion Choices Minnesota The post Opponents of proposed state End of Life bill use hyperbole and apocryphal stories to discredit act appeared first on MinnPost