The Listen to Lawrence Letter: Reader Responses to the Medical Aid In Dying Article
August 31, 2021
Dear Clients and Friends,
Last week I posted an article about “Medical Aid in Dying” (MAID) laws, written by the esteemed Dr. Peter Rogatz. I got many thanks for posting this article but I also got two negative responses.
In this LISTEN TO LAWRENCE LETTER, I am going to post these two negative responses, not because I agree with them necessarily (I don’t), but because I wish to foster a continuing dialogue on this subject among my readers and to point out that some people have VERY STRONG opinions on this difficult topic.
Please re-read Dr. Rogatz’s letter and the two responses, and then let me know how you feel about this. I think conversation is important to bridge the gap between differing world views, all of which I entirely respect. Please ignore the emotions and politics and comment only on the core arguments.
RESPONSE #1:
Dear Lawrence,
I disagree with your friend. Besides the biblical injunction “Thou shalt not kill,” and the Hippocratic Oath “First, do no harm,” it is certainly inadequate to have 2 physicians certify that the patient wants to die and has reasons to do so. Our society today is filled with wicked people who would love to eliminate the expense of “useless” people, to say nothing of those who are taking up expensive space and medical treatment. And rarely do doctors consider, much less recommend, alternative treatment which is outside their own training. Offering such alternatives should certainly be encouraged. They may improve the health or at least ease the suffering. Good grief, it takes 2 people to commit someone involuntarily–that’s not enough either. Once again I am stating that I love these tidbits of info! They address so many things that I have had questions about.
RESPONSE #2:
I challenge the assertion that “support is widespread”, we’d like to see the data, how the questions were fashioned because those with an agenda have found boldface/no conscious lying as standard practice – notice that every one of those states is a blue state who also enthusiastically support the murdering of innocent, defenseless children in the womb – wicked as the day is long. These explanations are useless – let those who so chose go to these blue states for these services. Stay the hell away from the others. It doesn’t matter how many times you say it or that it’s OK. It doesn’t make the lie true.
Setting “reasonable ground rules and setting appropriate limits” sounds nice but as we can see, today the written law doesn’t matter. Free speech, Due Process – the hell with that they now say, we’ll shut you down, we’ll put you in jail for defending yourself, you’re guilty by association or otherwise. We suffered through the entire piece and could not more strongly disagree. Not impressed by how many degrees the author might have – no common sense is the problem.
CLIENT QUESTION:
Thank you for all the invaluable information you continually provide. In regards to MAID, is there a legal document that can be executed in planning ahead to clearly state someone’s wishes when/if the time comes allowing their Health Care Proxy to take action? Sadly I keep dealing with family members suffering from dementia. At this point, they are no longer able to express anything and would not be able to meet the criteria stated. They did execute end-of-life, do not resuscitate, etc. for the Health Care Proxy to use, but this doesn’t include anything about MAID.
MY RESPONSE:
At the present time, all you can do is express your wishes in a LIVING WILL, which will guide your HEALTH CARE PROXY agent. As far as I know, the MAID act really only applies to competent persons expressing their wishes.
I look forward to continuing the dialogue with you.
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Let’s stay connected.
Stay safe!
Until next time…
peace, health and happiness,
Lawrence Eric Davidow