As my concentration for my Master’s was in Older Adults and Families, you can imagine that I was briefed a bit on death and dying social issues, and death with dignity came up a lot.
On Friday, California legislatures passed a law which makes us the 5th state in the U.S. to allow physician assisted suicide. There are several arguments to the issue, as one can imagine, however, contrary to my role as “mandated reporter” in mental health (meaning, if someone says they are suicidal, I have to have them evaluated for involuntary hospitalization, because generally speaking we, as a country, don’t “morally” approve of suicide), this is something I support. Of course, you can go ahead and question my deepest darkest secretive thoughts on suicide if you’d like, but I believe in self-determination. As a profession, social workers promote and advocate for our clients to be autonomous. As a country, we believe in the freedom of people making their own decisions. However, suicide is the exception. It’s a head scratcher, right? So, I am happy that this law was passed.
The law was inspired by a young woman who was terminally ill with cancer, Brittany Maynard. Here is a wiki link to her story: Short Bio.
And, here is the proposed bill for the law which passed on Friday: SB 128.
YAY.