To quote Dave Farber, “We all have to die someday, if we live long enough.” So, being Westerners with a tradition of independence, we should insist that we be allowed to die as we wish.

     Alas, certain religions feel they have the right to pre-empt our wishes, telling us we must die a “natural” death to be ready to meet their Lord. When Oregon passed a referendum legalizing physician-assisted suicide in 1994, the Catholic Church worked to overturn it, forcing another vote in 1997, but that vote to repeal was soundly defeated by Oregon voters (60%-40%) and the law was passed. 

     Next, the National Right-to-Life organization tried a lawsuit, subsequently dismissed. Then Catholic U.S. Representative Henry Hyde attempted an override of the Ore­gon people’s will by amending the Controlled Sub­stances Act to re­voke the license of any physician who writes prescriptions for life-ending medication. However, the Justice De­partment ruled (in June, 1998) that this would not apply because prescriptions written under such state law do con­stitute a legitimate medical purpose.

     This opposition to euthanasia is the result of the 1975 Bishop’s Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities, which declared war on both abortion and euthana­sia. The Catholic Church is inflexible in promoting this dogma, regardless of circumstances or the suffering it may cause.

     Contrast that with the 1974 statement by prominent Humanists: “We hold that the tolerance, acceptance, or enforcement of the unnecessary suffering of others is immoral. We believe in the value and dignity of the individual person. This requires respectful treatment, which entails the right to reasonable self-determination. No rational morality can categorically forbid the termination of life if it has been blighted by some horrible malady for which all known remedial measures are unavailing.”

     There is a distinction between passive and active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is the withdrawal of extraordinary life-prolonging techniques, such as intravenous feeding and resuscitation, or not initiating such treatment, when the situation is hopeless. Active euthanasia is the administration of increasing dosages of drugs (such as morphine) to relieve suffering, until the dosage, of necessity, reaches the lethal stage.

     Washington has now become the second state to pass a Death with Dignity Act allowing active euthanasia with important safeguards. Since then, bills that seek to improve end-of-life care have been introduced in nine state legislatures around the country. Seven states have introduced Death with Dignity laws, and two states have proposed laws that require physicians to inform patients of all of their end-of-life options.

     Colorado needs such legislation to insure freedom in deciding end-of-life treatment without religious interference. The preservation of individual rights is one of the foundations of our democracy. What right could be more important than the right to end your life with an easy death?

     Catholics should heed the words of John Paul II, in a speech given at the World Day of Peace, January 1, 1991: “To deny an individual complete freedom of conscience…or to attempt to impose a particular way of seeing the truth, constitutes a violation of that individual’s most personal rights.”

     Actually, this sentiment was given in response to perceived persecution of Catholics. Perhaps it is true that the oppressed make the worst oppressors.