Advocates For Bill That Would Allow Terminally Ill To End Their Lives Hold Forum

(Laavanya Pasupuleti, Veronica Vanaman and Arlene Carmody talk during a forum on the Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act at the Red Bank Public Library. Credit: Compassion & Choices)

The New Jersey Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act was the featured discussion topic last Friday at the Red Bank Public Library. A representative from Compassion & Choices, a national nonprofit organization committed to improving care and expanding choice at the end of life, hosted a screening of “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”, a film documenting Washington State’s former governor Booth Gardener in his fight to legalize Aid-in-Dying in his home state after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1994.

The Aid in Dying bill (A2270/S382) would allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults the right to request a prescription for life-ending medication that the patient would self-administer in order to reduce suffering at the end of life. The New Jersey State Assembly passed the bill last November, and it passed out of the state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens committee in December. A full Senate vote is expected in the coming months.

“Aid in dying is about options,” Ethan Andersen of Compassion & Choices said. “When someone is suffering from pain and facing the end of life, aid in dying can give terminally ill adults a final measure of comfort, control and dignity, whether they use the medication or not.”

Recent polls show that 62 percent of New Jersey voters support a person’s right to choose aid in dying.

Andersen said the dialogue in New Jersey regarding aid in dying is continuously increasing, “particularly as the baby boomer generation ages and recognizes that they will want more personal freedom and legal rights at the end of life.”

During the presentation, attendees had the opportunity to ask questions, learn more about the medical procedure of aid in dying, and sign a petition calling for state legislators to pass the bill.

To learn more about the legislation and aid in dying, visit the Compassion & Choices website.