The article discusses democratic discrepancies in the UK regarding Capital Punishment and Assisted Dying laws, highlighting shifts in public opinion and legal challenges faced by supporters of Assisted Dying.
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“’Life is really very simple. But — it’s difficult to realize that.” This is one of the last things my teacher said before he passed. A lesson for the living, spoken by the dying.”
Jewish law states the dying are to be considered, for legal purposes, “like one who is alive for every purpose”, capable of wielding the same power over their lives until their very last moments, as they did in their days of health.
Although many individuals shy away from contemplating the inevitability of death, most would agree that they would like to die well. A new review of existing literature, published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, asks what makes a “good death” according to those involved in the process.
It’s time that we revise and refine our cultural lexicon around this emergent end-of-life practice. A medically assisted death definitively warrants a linguistic and conceptual category of its own.
Decisions are often made unilaterally without necessarily considering what the one dying wants or needs. A respectful death involves truly listening to the dying and being open and honest with them and the family.
When sickness and death strike, sometimes guidance from the past offers the clearest path forward.
“The rest is up to you,” he finally said, ending the conversation for good. He didn’t have any more guidance, and certainly no more patience to talk about it. I was surprised. To me, it felt slightly irresponsible to leave all these decisions to other people.
I was amazed how life could be prolonged with multiple surgeries, toxic chemotherapy, antibiotics, and tube feeding. Quality of life, pain, cost, and suffering? Rarely discussed. I kept saying to myself, “There must be a better way. But what?”
“It’s no secret that wage gaps, discrimination and institutional racism limit Black Americans’ access to health equity. However, what’s discussed a lot less frequently is that these factors impact the way this group experiences death, too.”
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