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YTS.MX

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REHM: What is death?

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How will my own life end?

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What options do I have,

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if any, as to
what my death will be like?

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Artists, philosophers,
writers, people like you

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and me have been considering
questions like these for, well,

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for as long as there
have been human beings.

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Today, some of us are willing to
speak openly about such things,

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but many of us are not.

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LAMAR: We live in a,
in a culture that seems

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to hide from mortality.

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SHAVELSON: This is the
most difficult experience for

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a patient,
and their families.

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SONQUIST-FOREST: Speaking
about death and dying is

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complicated for people.

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And it takes a certain amount
of willingness to be vulnerable.

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LEE: These conversations
are not actually about dying.

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They're about the
quality of our lives.

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KATALIN: Everybody's ideal is
to die quickly in their sleep

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and not have any
existential suffering.

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But that's not
available to many of us.

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KLIGLER: 25% of people who
die with chronic illness,

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die with uncontrolled pain.

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WALLACE-PUSHINAITIS: I'm going
to die of breast cancer, right.

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One of the scariest
things about that is,

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is that you have no control.

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REHM: But you can
control the end of life.

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WALLACE-PUSHINAITIS: How I die.

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I can control how I die.

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LEE: Medical aid in dying is a
medical treatment that enables

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a person who is dying, who
has exhausted all hope for cure

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and is close to
an imminent death;

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help them die in comfort,

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in peace and with
reduced level of suffering.

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SHAVELSON: When somebody
is thinking about aid in dying,

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they're not
thinking about it casually.

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LUEDTKE: I think this is
a very difficult debate for

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a lot of people.

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ROTH: Some people don't
feel it's an appropriate thing

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for a doctor to do.

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CHEH: I don't know
whether I would use it,

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but I know I'd
like to have the choice.

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GROSSO: This is between
an individual and her family

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and doctor.

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REHM: A good
conversation goes...

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BOTH: A long way.

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GROSSO: Right,
but it's a hard one.

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REHM: Most people would
rather not talk about death.

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They'd rather push
it out of their minds.

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But I believe we
must talk about it.

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For me, thinking about
what I would like to have at

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the end of my life
is very important.

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And sharing my wishes
with my family, my friends,

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my physician, I believe
will bring comfort to us all

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when my time comes.

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*

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REHM: I want to tell
you about John Rehm,

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my husband of 54 years.

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He was a fine man,
self-confident,

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with a wonderful mind.

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He was knowledgeable
about so many things and John

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was a born teacher.

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BUSBY: She hadn't been
to college and she really went

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to the John Rehm graduate
school and learned an awful lot.

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He was brilliant.

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John Rehm was thrilled with
every step of Diane's career.

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He was just so supportive
of everything she did.

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REHM: John Rehm
retired at age 71,

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and he would wait for
me to come home so we could

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go for a long walk
around the neighborhood.

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It was in 2004,

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on those walks that I began
to hear John Rehm shuffle.

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BUSBY: As the years went on,
he became thinner and thinner

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and then his hands
began to tremor.

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REHM: So he knew
something was wrong.

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John was suffering
from Parkinson's.

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Parkinson's Disease is a
progressive disorder of

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the nervous system.

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And some people,
like my husband,

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can develop complications
that result in death.

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John and I began to talk
about his declining health and

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the possibility that he would
die much sooner than I would.

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MAN: Ready when you are.

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REHM: On my radio program,
just as in my life,

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I never shied
away from tough subjects

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and neither did John Rehm.

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On my mind this week,
medical aid in dying.

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Some call it
"death with dignity"

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or "physician assisted dying."

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It has different names.

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I had been aware of
this movement in the U.S. and

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was favorably inclined
toward it, generally speaking.

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My darling John died
in 2014 and that experience

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made this issue very personal.

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I realized I still
had a lot to learn.

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I decided I should
do what I do best,

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investigate this
subject and learn the facts.

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SHAVELSON: You can
decide to stop chemotherapy,

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you can decide to have
surgery on your aorta or not.

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REHM: One of the first
experts I spoke with was

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Dr. Lonny Shavelson, a
physician who has been focused

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on end of life care
for over three decades.

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SHAVELSON: Probably one of the
driving forces for me to become

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a doctor was, was dealing
with the question of suffering,

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especially around the
time of Jack Kevorkian

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in the early '90s,

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I think that people started
really talking about this.

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REPORTER: He was a retired
pathologist from Michigan who

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specialized in
challenging authority.

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Dr. Jack Kevorkian ignited
a national debate in the 1990s

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over physician
assisted suicide,

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when he helped more than
130 patients kill themselves.

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KEVORKIAN: Many
doctors agree with me,

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but they're
intimidated into silence.

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I am lucky to be in a position
where I don't have to be silent.

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LEE: People weren't aware
there was a problem until the

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extremity of his activities
brought it to light,

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how desperate
people were to prevent,

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avoid end of life suffering.

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SHAVELSON: It made me
really realize that there was

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a bigger picture,

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that it was important
for me to look into it,

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to understand it better and
to really get into the idea of,

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in what was still then a
hidden world of people asking

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to die because of
illness and suffering.

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REHM: When John was dying,

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he could no
longer walk on his own,

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he could no longer
stand on his own,

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he could no
longer feed himself.

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The doctor at the nursing
home had said he was within

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six months of dying,
because he had lost so much

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of his human capacity
except the capacity to think.

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He could think very clearly.

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And John turned to
the doctor and said,

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I am ready to die and
I want you to help me.

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And the doctor said,

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here in the
state of Maryland,

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I have not the
legal authority,

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the moral authority or

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any other authority
by which to help you die.

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The only way

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you can
do this is to stop eating,

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stop drinking water,
stop taking medication.

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And John, for the
first time in a long time,

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became enraged.

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By the early 1990s,
some people, patients,

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physicians and
even some lawmakers,

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were beginning to look at
what could be done legislatively

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to address end of life
suffering in the United States.

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The state of Oregon was at
the center of that movement.

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LEE: There had been multiple
attempts in the legislatures

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of the nation
to introduce a bill.

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None of those bills
ever went anywhere.

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But we rolled up our
sleeves and crafted a bill

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that we believed would satisfy
people's concerns about safety,

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eligibility criteria
that were crystal clear.

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These are for
mentally capable,

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terminally ill adults
who are well informed of all

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their end of life options.

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Because it's a
medical procedure,

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it conforms to the
standards of medical care.

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REHM: Now there are a
great many people who point to

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Oregon's law as the standard by

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which all the
others then followed.

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LEE: Oregon came online
in November of 1997.

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REHM: Right.

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LEE: There was not another law
passed until November of 2008.

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REHM: Oh, wow.

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LEE: We were having trouble
making process in other states,

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until Brittany Maynard
came on the scene in

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the waning days of 2014.

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DIAZ: Brittany was
an adventurous spirit.

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She was a force of nature,

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would be a good way to
describe her personality.

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Brittany and I, we got
married in September of 2012.

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And a few months
after our wedding,

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she started having headaches.

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They would wake her up
in the middle of the night.

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REHM: Dan told me that by
the summer they knew something

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was seriously wrong.

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MAYNARD: I was told I
had a grade two astrocytoma

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and was told
anywhere from three,

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maybe five, up to
ten years to live.

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I have to tell you,
when you're 29 years old,

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being told you have
that kind of timeline still

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feels like you're being told
you're going to die tomorrow.

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70 days post-op, I
went in for another MRI,

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and was told I
had had a grade change.

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They were looking and saying
it looks like grade four,

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which is the worst and most
aggressive form of brain cancer.

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It's called a glioblastoma.

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So that was a major shock to
my system and the system of my

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family because it went
from having potentially years

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of time to being told
I had like six months.

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DIAZ: Brittany told me,

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we will continue
to fight this tumor,

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but if it gets bad,
we're moving to Oregon.

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Oregon's Death
with Dignity Program

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was something that
she had come across.

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LEE: She decided that she
would do what she could with

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the time she had remaining
to pave the way so that other

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Californians wouldn't
have to do what she did,

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and she was
enormously effective.

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MAYNARD: The freedom of
this patient right is choice.

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LEE: 100 million people
worldwide had seen her,

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knew her name and
knew what she stood for.

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BROWN: And we have
our own conversation now

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with Barbara Coombs Lee,

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president of
Compassion and Choices,

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the group dedicated to
expanding end of life options

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that's now working
with Brittany Maynard.

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And Dr. Ira Byock
is director of the

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Institute for Human Caring

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of Providence
Health and Services,

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a palliative care physician
and author of the book,

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"The Best Care Possible".

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Well, Barbara Coombs Lee,
let me start with you.

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Why do you think the
case of Brittany Maynard

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is resonating
with so many people?

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What's the key to this for you?

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LEE: The key is how
Brittany has made dying real,

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made the
tragedy of, of decline,

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the inhumanities that people

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suffer often before their
disease takes their lives.

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Brittany is bringing
that reality home to people.

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BYOCK: My heart goes
out to Brittany Maynard.

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It's a heart wrenching story.

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But I want to assure the,
our people watching that

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she could get excellent
whole person care

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and be assured of
dying gently in her bed,

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surrounded by her family.

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Giving doctors now authority to
write lethal prescriptions fixes

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really nothing, none of the
deficiencies in practice or

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medical training, it's really a
socially dangerous thing to do.

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BROWN: Barbara Coombs Lee, a
socially dangerous thing to do?

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In other words, it might
work in one individual case,

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for Brittany Maynard,
but expanded,

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it doesn't make sense
is the argument.

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LEE: It makes sense for a lot of
people and I think that I agree

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00:15:41,274 --> 00:15:43,276
with Dr. Byock and
he knows that I do.

245
00:15:43,310 --> 00:15:46,146
Hospice and palliative
care is the gold standard.

246
00:15:46,179 --> 00:15:49,049
It's wonderful.
But it's not a miracle.

247
00:15:49,082 --> 00:15:53,953
And it cannot prevent the kind
of relentless, dehumanizing,

248
00:15:53,987 --> 00:15:56,356
horrific decline
that Brittany faces.

249
00:15:57,624 --> 00:16:01,528
KLIGLER: Brittany Maynard was
able to do that and she's in

250
00:16:01,561 --> 00:16:03,196
many ways, a role model.

251
00:16:03,230 --> 00:16:04,264
She's a...

252
00:16:04,297 --> 00:16:06,899
REHM: Moving from
California to Oregon?

253
00:16:06,933 --> 00:16:08,668
KLIGLER: To Oregon.

254
00:16:09,102 --> 00:16:13,873
It means that you have to
have the wherewithal to uproot

255
00:16:13,906 --> 00:16:16,509
yourself and your
family, your caregivers.

256
00:16:17,644 --> 00:16:21,314
So that takes it out of
the option for many people.

257
00:16:25,552 --> 00:16:30,390
REHM: There are people who
feel so strongly, as John did,

258
00:16:31,658 --> 00:16:40,367
that control is what they want
as to when it ends, how it ends.

259
00:16:43,070 --> 00:16:48,208
But sadly, John was too
ill to travel to Oregon,

260
00:16:49,209 --> 00:16:52,512
as Brittany Maynard had done.

261
00:16:55,948 --> 00:17:00,019
I came in with a
photograph album.

262
00:17:00,820 --> 00:17:05,825
I sat on his bed and we looked
at the photographs together.

263
00:17:07,994 --> 00:17:12,099
And he said, Diane, I
have not had any food,

264
00:17:12,132 --> 00:17:17,070
I have not had any medication,
I have not had any water.

265
00:17:19,539 --> 00:17:23,276
I have begun the journey.

266
00:17:23,576 --> 00:17:27,414
He had a smile on his face.

267
00:17:27,447 --> 00:17:34,487
And I believe it was because
he had taken his life back into

268
00:17:34,521 --> 00:17:37,224
his own hands.

269
00:17:38,225 --> 00:17:40,827
GRUBE: Everyone dies
at some point in time.

270
00:17:40,860 --> 00:17:43,896
But what is the enemy
is terminal suffering.

271
00:17:44,864 --> 00:17:48,935
None of us want people who are
about to die to suffer and we go

272
00:17:48,968 --> 00:17:51,738
about different ways in
trying to take care of that.

273
00:17:52,205 --> 00:17:55,342
Language we use at end of life
is so important that we...

274
00:17:55,375 --> 00:17:59,446
REHM: Dr. Grube speaks to
medical students around the

275
00:17:59,479 --> 00:18:05,185
country about medical
ethics and end of life care.

276
00:18:06,386 --> 00:18:09,956
GRUBE: Those weeks or days
or months sometimes when a,

277
00:18:09,989 --> 00:18:12,192
a person who is
going to die anyway

278
00:18:12,225 --> 00:18:14,561
has intolerable suffering,

279
00:18:14,594 --> 00:18:18,064
I am trying to persuade them
to open their minds to the fact

280
00:18:18,097 --> 00:18:21,134
that this is something I
think that's compassionate.

281
00:18:21,701 --> 00:18:24,504
Most people do not
choose aid in dying because of

282
00:18:24,537 --> 00:18:26,173
lack of pain control.

283
00:18:27,607 --> 00:18:30,076
Everybody thinks well,
gosh, it's they're having,

284
00:18:30,109 --> 00:18:32,011
oh the suffering is pain.

285
00:18:32,044 --> 00:18:34,547
Their suffering
may be anhedonia,

286
00:18:35,682 --> 00:18:38,585
lack of joy or lack of
pleasure, loss of autonomy,

287
00:18:39,952 --> 00:18:41,888
loss of dignity.

288
00:18:41,921 --> 00:18:43,623
TOFFLER: We see the
world differently.

289
00:18:43,656 --> 00:18:46,193
You know, I believe that the
solution to suffering is to help

290
00:18:46,226 --> 00:18:47,860
the sufferer, to be
with the sufferer,

291
00:18:47,894 --> 00:18:50,663
to be willing to suffer
with the patient.

292
00:18:50,697 --> 00:18:53,400
That's what I dedicated my life
to over these last 40 years

293
00:18:53,433 --> 00:18:54,601
as a doctor.

294
00:18:54,634 --> 00:18:56,803
We have to do a better
job of allowing people to

295
00:18:56,836 --> 00:19:00,207
die with dignity, naturally
at the end of their life.

296
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,075
ROTH: This is something that's
been much discussed at our

297
00:19:03,109 --> 00:19:06,246
national meetings for
geriatrics and for hospice

298
00:19:07,046 --> 00:19:09,081
and palliative medicine.

299
00:19:09,115 --> 00:19:12,252
So, it wasn't a new
issue for any of us.

300
00:19:13,152 --> 00:19:15,455
There's a lot of
genuine disagreement,

301
00:19:15,488 --> 00:19:19,192
there's respect on both sides,
but some people don't feel it's

302
00:19:19,226 --> 00:19:21,528
an appropriate thing
for a doctor to do.

303
00:19:22,161 --> 00:19:27,200
REHM: I wonder about the
Hippocratic Oath, to do no harm.

304
00:19:28,134 --> 00:19:30,937
How does that work
into your thinking?

305
00:19:31,638 --> 00:19:33,506
KLIGLER: Do no harm.

306
00:19:33,540 --> 00:19:37,009
What is harm and who
gets to define harm?

307
00:19:37,710 --> 00:19:40,747
GRUBE: The harm is
defined by the patient and

308
00:19:40,780 --> 00:19:42,148
not by the doctor.

309
00:19:42,181 --> 00:19:45,585
REHM: And the suffering
is defined by the patient.

310
00:19:45,618 --> 00:19:47,620
GRUBE: Yeah.

311
00:19:48,255 --> 00:19:50,557
KLIGLER: Bodie and I, he
loves to come with me.

312
00:19:50,590 --> 00:19:51,924
He loves to...

313
00:19:51,958 --> 00:19:56,763
REHM: Roger was diagnosed
with incurable stage 4

314
00:19:56,796 --> 00:19:58,931
prostate cancer.

315
00:19:59,732 --> 00:20:03,536
He has since retired
from practicing medicine,

316
00:20:04,704 --> 00:20:09,342
but he and his dog Bodie
walk seven miles every day,

317
00:20:10,810 --> 00:20:12,679
no matter the weather.

318
00:20:13,980 --> 00:20:18,451
KLIGLER: I always would tell
my patients that just because

319
00:20:18,485 --> 00:20:22,589
you've got a terminal
condition doesn't mean that

320
00:20:22,622 --> 00:20:25,191
you're dead yet.

321
00:20:25,224 --> 00:20:26,993
That you should go on,

322
00:20:27,026 --> 00:20:28,728
you should continue
living your life,

323
00:20:28,761 --> 00:20:31,898
you should seek the beauty
that's in it and the enjoyment

324
00:20:31,931 --> 00:20:33,600
that you can.

325
00:20:38,405 --> 00:20:43,743
REHM: John Rehm could have had
such a peaceful death with his

326
00:20:43,776 --> 00:20:49,416
family around him, with
all of us saying goodbye.

327
00:20:50,650 --> 00:20:53,420
ZIDE: Basically for two weeks,
I listened every day,

328
00:20:53,453 --> 00:20:56,088
sometimes twice a day, to my mom
get updates from my grandmother

329
00:20:56,122 --> 00:20:59,492
about how his condition
was like slowly declining.

330
00:21:01,260 --> 00:21:04,797
BUSBY: It was just an
excruciating time for

331
00:21:04,831 --> 00:21:07,367
all of them.

332
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:11,971
And especially for Diane, to
have to sit and just watch this

333
00:21:12,004 --> 00:21:14,341
over such a long period.

334
00:21:14,374 --> 00:21:19,245
REHM: On the ninth day,
I stayed overnight,

335
00:21:20,513 --> 00:21:25,552
sleeping on two chairs, or
trying to sleep on two chairs,

336
00:21:26,653 --> 00:21:29,756
watching this man suffer.

337
00:21:33,125 --> 00:21:36,629
And the next day, my
dear John was gone.

338
00:21:41,468 --> 00:21:45,171
I spoke with
Lori Wallace-Pushinaitis

339
00:21:45,204 --> 00:21:47,540
and her doctor.

340
00:21:48,408 --> 00:21:52,745
Lori followed the passage of
the California law closely.

341
00:21:54,246 --> 00:21:55,782
WALLACE-PUSHINAITIS: I
have had cancer for a little

342
00:21:55,815 --> 00:21:57,384
over seven years.

343
00:21:57,417 --> 00:22:00,387
I have known it's metastatic
for a little over four years,

344
00:22:00,420 --> 00:22:03,390
and if it's metastatic,
there is no cure.

345
00:22:03,423 --> 00:22:05,992
I'm going to die of
breast cancer, right.

346
00:22:06,025 --> 00:22:09,362
So the minute I found out that
there was legislation that was

347
00:22:09,396 --> 00:22:11,364
being considered that
we would vote on,

348
00:22:11,398 --> 00:22:13,966
I started telling my
oncologist immediately, okay,

349
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,870
in today's notes, I want you
to put that I want this option.

350
00:22:17,904 --> 00:22:20,172
And she's like, oh, but we
don't, it's not even passed yet.

351
00:22:20,206 --> 00:22:21,708
I'm like I don't care.

352
00:22:21,741 --> 00:22:23,743
I want there to be as long a
history in my medical records

353
00:22:23,776 --> 00:22:26,145
as possible.

354
00:22:28,381 --> 00:22:30,983
SONQUIST-FOREST: We met
specifically around the issue

355
00:22:31,017 --> 00:22:35,221
of, of her interest
in the option.

356
00:22:35,888 --> 00:22:36,956
WALLACE-PUSHINAITIS: Right.

357
00:22:36,989 --> 00:22:38,290
SONQUIST-FOREST:
Not with a plan,

358
00:22:38,324 --> 00:22:41,160
but just the reassurance
that if it were there,

359
00:22:41,193 --> 00:22:43,029
that that would be
comforting to her.

360
00:22:43,062 --> 00:22:45,498
WALLACE-PUSHINAITIS: And I
can't, I can't choose when,

361
00:22:45,532 --> 00:22:50,503
because if I would choose
when, it would be when I'm 90,

362
00:22:50,537 --> 00:22:52,772
but that's not an option, right.

363
00:22:52,805 --> 00:22:56,242
REHM: Lori, if you
had the medication,

364
00:22:56,275 --> 00:22:59,412
do you think you'd use it?

365
00:22:59,446 --> 00:23:01,681
WALLACE-PUSHINAITIS:
I don't know.

366
00:23:01,714 --> 00:23:03,616
I mean I can't, I don't
know how it's going to look

367
00:23:03,650 --> 00:23:04,917
when I'm dying.

368
00:23:04,951 --> 00:23:10,056
So, you know, I would love
to fall asleep and then die

369
00:23:10,089 --> 00:23:11,257
in my sleep.

370
00:23:11,290 --> 00:23:13,493
That'd be great.
I'd love to do that.

371
00:23:13,526 --> 00:23:18,030
But, if it gets to the point
where I have no quality of life

372
00:23:18,064 --> 00:23:20,399
and I cannot have
my pain maintained,

373
00:23:21,333 --> 00:23:22,735
I'm going to want to do
something about that,

374
00:23:22,769 --> 00:23:25,738
not only for me, but
also for my children.

375
00:23:25,772 --> 00:23:27,474
I have a 12-year old.

376
00:23:27,507 --> 00:23:30,810
He does not need to see
his mother in misery.

377
00:23:31,744 --> 00:23:33,112
REHM: I understand.

378
00:23:33,145 --> 00:23:34,747
WALLACE-PUSHINAITIS: And I will
do whatever I can to make sure

379
00:23:34,781 --> 00:23:37,950
that it is my choice and not
someone making a choice for me.

380
00:23:39,151 --> 00:23:42,755
ROTH: There's a strong belief
that good palliative medicine

381
00:23:42,789 --> 00:23:46,859
can almost always relieve
suffering adequately.

382
00:23:48,060 --> 00:23:50,062
SHAVELSON: Yet there are limits.

383
00:23:50,096 --> 00:23:53,165
And I think that everybody has
to acknowledge that anything in

384
00:23:53,199 --> 00:23:55,868
medicine has a time
when it doesn't work.

385
00:23:56,669 --> 00:23:58,104
SONQUIST-FOREST:
In my experience,

386
00:23:58,137 --> 00:24:00,940
there's a subgroup of people
for which nothing that we have

387
00:24:00,973 --> 00:24:05,211
treats, at the end of life,
treats their suffering, nothing.

388
00:24:05,678 --> 00:24:09,448
KLIGLER: 25% of people who
die with chronic illness,

389
00:24:09,482 --> 00:24:12,351
die with uncontrolled pain.

390
00:24:12,384 --> 00:24:14,987
ROTH: And in the
palliative world,

391
00:24:15,021 --> 00:24:19,592
we have a lot of experience with
physicians being very reluctant

392
00:24:19,626 --> 00:24:23,896
to adequately treat pain
because they worry about

393
00:24:23,930 --> 00:24:25,565
hastening death.

394
00:24:25,598 --> 00:24:28,167
But this is a tension
that many physicians work with

395
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:29,669
all the time,

396
00:24:29,702 --> 00:24:32,238
that they're actually
afraid to adequately treat

397
00:24:32,271 --> 00:24:35,374
cancer pain or
other kinds of pain,

398
00:24:35,407 --> 00:24:38,678
so doctors have struggled
with this a lot.

399
00:24:40,379 --> 00:24:44,050
REHM: The more I learned
about medical aid in dying,

400
00:24:44,917 --> 00:24:50,422
the more I came to appreciate
how complex an issue it is.

401
00:24:51,791 --> 00:24:57,196
But for some patients, there
can be barriers to care based on

402
00:24:57,997 --> 00:25:03,069
race or ethnicity,
poverty, and other factors.

403
00:25:04,370 --> 00:25:07,106
ZITTER: So, Mrs. C, we're going
to up and see her right after.

404
00:25:07,139 --> 00:25:11,711
REHM: To understand this better,
I visited Highland Hospital

405
00:25:13,045 --> 00:25:19,752
where I met Dr. Jessica Zitter,
an expert in palliative care.

406
00:25:21,153 --> 00:25:22,855
ZITTER: What's something
interesting to me and very

407
00:25:22,889 --> 00:25:25,758
alarming as somebody who
takes care of patients,

408
00:25:25,792 --> 00:25:28,460
a lot of African
American patients,

409
00:25:28,494 --> 00:25:31,463
a lot of patients of
color, people, you know,

410
00:25:31,497 --> 00:25:34,333
who don't speak English, is
that there are many, many,

411
00:25:34,366 --> 00:25:38,370
many options that
are not available.

412
00:25:39,305 --> 00:25:41,941
They don't tend to see or hear
about hospice and palliative

413
00:25:41,974 --> 00:25:47,346
care as much as white patients
do, or to access or to use it.

414
00:25:47,379 --> 00:25:48,648
It's a real problem.

415
00:25:48,681 --> 00:25:50,082
REHM: Isn't that interesting?
ZITTER: Yeah.

416
00:25:50,116 --> 00:25:53,753
SHAVELSON: Access to medical
care is unevenly distributed in

417
00:25:53,786 --> 00:25:56,155
all aspects
throughout our state.

418
00:25:56,188 --> 00:25:57,657
REHM: Throughout
the country, indeed.

419
00:25:57,690 --> 00:25:59,491
SHAVELSON: Rich, throughout
the county, rich people,

420
00:25:59,525 --> 00:26:01,193
poor people, insured
people, non-insured people,

421
00:26:01,227 --> 00:26:04,330
black people, white people,
Latino people, Asian people,

422
00:26:04,363 --> 00:26:09,936
there is no even distribution of
access and there is the unequal

423
00:26:09,969 --> 00:26:13,239
access to aid in dying just
like we see unequal access to

424
00:26:13,272 --> 00:26:14,641
everything else.

425
00:26:14,674 --> 00:26:17,109
PATIENT: It's more like
ache than pain right now.

426
00:26:17,543 --> 00:26:18,645
REHM: Good.

427
00:26:18,678 --> 00:26:20,613
PATIENT: The pain
is like, you know.

428
00:26:20,647 --> 00:26:22,715
REHM: Softened a little bit.

429
00:26:22,749 --> 00:26:28,621
So when do you reach that point
when you say to the patient,

430
00:26:29,956 --> 00:26:34,160
maybe there's nothing
more we should do?

431
00:26:35,261 --> 00:26:39,231
When do you do that, and how do
you communicate that to them?

432
00:26:39,565 --> 00:26:41,267
ZITTER: Well,
first, first of all,

433
00:26:41,300 --> 00:26:43,369
I would say those words are
not the words that I would use,

434
00:26:43,402 --> 00:26:44,637
which is there's nothing more.

435
00:26:44,671 --> 00:26:46,939
There's always something
more we can do,

436
00:26:46,973 --> 00:26:49,008
there's always something
more we can do, right.

437
00:26:49,041 --> 00:26:50,276
REHM: But...

438
00:26:50,309 --> 00:26:51,778
ZITTER: Maybe we can't
cure the disease.

439
00:26:51,811 --> 00:26:54,413
Maybe our treatments can't stop
this disease from progressing.

440
00:26:54,446 --> 00:26:56,215
But there's lots of other
successes we can have.

441
00:26:56,248 --> 00:26:57,583
BHARGAVA: That's right.

442
00:26:57,616 --> 00:26:59,151
ZITTER: I'm so sorry.
PATIENT: Yeah, that's sore.

443
00:26:59,185 --> 00:27:00,619
ZITTER: I'm sorry. Okay.
You know what I'm going to do?

444
00:27:00,653 --> 00:27:01,854
I'm going to go call the team.

445
00:27:01,888 --> 00:27:03,022
We're going to go find
out what's going on.

446
00:27:03,055 --> 00:27:04,691
Okay.

447
00:27:04,724 --> 00:27:06,726
BHARGAVA: There are definitely
families I've encountered that

448
00:27:06,759 --> 00:27:09,128
feel like saying that we're
not going to intubate your

449
00:27:09,161 --> 00:27:11,163
loved one, saying that I
don't think it's a good idea,

450
00:27:11,197 --> 00:27:12,965
they perceive as...

451
00:27:12,999 --> 00:27:14,200
ZITTER: An abandonment?

452
00:27:14,233 --> 00:27:16,602
BHARGAVA: As sort of harmful or
an abandonment, right.

453
00:27:16,969 --> 00:27:19,171
REHM: Hello.

454
00:27:19,205 --> 00:27:21,007
ZITTER: How are you today?

455
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:22,308
REHM: How are you feeling?

456
00:27:22,341 --> 00:27:23,910
ZITTER: One of the
things in, you know,

457
00:27:23,943 --> 00:27:27,013
that's a factor in my practice
is I'm so afraid to think that

458
00:27:27,046 --> 00:27:30,049
someone would think that I was
depriving them of something,

459
00:27:30,082 --> 00:27:33,252
on a racial basis or because
they were less educated.

460
00:27:33,652 --> 00:27:35,922
That's a terrifying
thought for me.

461
00:27:35,955 --> 00:27:39,025
So you can imagine the impulse
to that would be to say well,

462
00:27:39,058 --> 00:27:41,260
let's just do everything, let's
just keep going, we'll trach,

463
00:27:41,293 --> 00:27:42,729
we'll peg, we'll do everything.

464
00:27:42,762 --> 00:27:45,497
And I think that what I've
learned from the palliative care

465
00:27:45,531 --> 00:27:51,170
movement is to stop and to, to,
to try and tolerate the feeling

466
00:27:51,203 --> 00:27:53,873
of discomfort in myself, the
feeling of discomfort in the

467
00:27:53,906 --> 00:27:58,044
loved one or the patient and
stay in the conversation.

468
00:27:59,678 --> 00:28:02,048
MAN: Oh, gracious Lord, we pause
for just a moment from a place

469
00:28:02,081 --> 00:28:04,951
of thanksgiving and gratitude,
just knowing that you are right

470
00:28:04,984 --> 00:28:08,520
here in the presence
with each of...

471
00:28:09,722 --> 00:28:12,591
REHM: I love Washington, DC.

472
00:28:13,492 --> 00:28:15,995
It's been my home
all of my life,

473
00:28:17,163 --> 00:28:20,666
and I've never wanted
to live anywhere else.

474
00:28:22,935 --> 00:28:28,540
Over the decades, I've seen
tremendous changes happen here.

475
00:28:32,111 --> 00:28:37,716
Finally, after a long battle,
the District of Columbia has

476
00:28:38,650 --> 00:28:43,522
approved the right to
medical aid in dying.

477
00:28:44,991 --> 00:28:49,896
Tell me a little about
how difficult it was to get

478
00:28:50,462 --> 00:28:52,298
this law passed.

479
00:28:52,331 --> 00:28:54,867
CHEH: Well, it was not easy.

480
00:28:54,901 --> 00:28:58,370
People need time to adapt to
changing social circumstances,

481
00:28:58,404 --> 00:29:01,140
especially big issues like this.

482
00:29:06,779 --> 00:29:10,749
LAMAR: Diane, the reason I
opposed the law was the deep

483
00:29:10,783 --> 00:29:15,254
history of malfeasance when it
comes to the United States of

484
00:29:15,287 --> 00:29:19,792
America and the medical
establishment's commitment to

485
00:29:19,826 --> 00:29:23,362
caring equally for bodies
that are not white.

486
00:29:24,030 --> 00:29:31,237
I understand the law, I support
what the law makes available,

487
00:29:32,771 --> 00:29:38,577
but I do not trust the
government and establishment

488
00:29:38,610 --> 00:29:41,013
to be fair.

489
00:29:42,114 --> 00:29:45,684
*

490
00:29:46,152 --> 00:29:48,387
MAN: Put your hands
together, everybody, welcome!

491
00:29:48,420 --> 00:29:52,324
*

492
00:29:52,358 --> 00:29:55,261
Would you reach your neighbors
this morning in a spirit

493
00:29:55,294 --> 00:29:56,428
of love, peace and joy?

494
00:29:56,996 --> 00:29:59,465
CHEH: There was a good deal
of concern, skepticism,

495
00:29:59,498 --> 00:30:03,002
perhaps even suspicion on the
part of African Americans about

496
00:30:03,035 --> 00:30:05,771
some of these medical things
because in the past, we've had,

497
00:30:05,804 --> 00:30:08,374
we have a terrible history
of taking advantage

498
00:30:08,407 --> 00:30:10,642
of African Americans.

499
00:30:10,676 --> 00:30:11,743
REHM: Of course.

500
00:30:11,777 --> 00:30:13,312
GROSSO: I got more
opposition from,

501
00:30:13,345 --> 00:30:15,714
from religion than I did from
African American communities.

502
00:30:16,415 --> 00:30:18,584
The Catholics were the ones
that are the most opposed,

503
00:30:18,617 --> 00:30:20,552
in my opinion and were
during this debate.

504
00:30:21,620 --> 00:30:24,390
And I was raised Catholic, so
I kind of knew their arguments

505
00:30:24,423 --> 00:30:25,791
before they came in.

506
00:30:25,824 --> 00:30:27,393
But it was important to listen.

507
00:30:27,426 --> 00:30:28,961
CHEH: This is a choice.

508
00:30:28,995 --> 00:30:30,262
No one has to participate.

509
00:30:30,296 --> 00:30:33,199
No doctor, no pharmacy,
no provider, no person.

510
00:30:33,232 --> 00:30:34,800
No one.

511
00:30:34,833 --> 00:30:38,104
If somebody is a person of faith
and they feel that their faith

512
00:30:38,137 --> 00:30:41,273
prevents them from doing this,
they're completely entitled to

513
00:30:41,307 --> 00:30:43,375
not act on it.

514
00:30:43,409 --> 00:30:48,280
Or if there's a hospital that's
religiously affiliated and they

515
00:30:48,314 --> 00:30:52,184
feel that their hospital should
participate in this whatsoever,

516
00:30:52,218 --> 00:30:54,720
that's their choice.

517
00:30:55,187 --> 00:30:58,891
REHM: While many religions
disagree with these laws,

518
00:30:59,858 --> 00:31:04,563
the Catholic Church is
the most outspoken and

519
00:31:04,596 --> 00:31:07,599
best funded opponent.

520
00:31:08,534 --> 00:31:14,440
Please tell us what the Roman
Catholic's Church's position is

521
00:31:14,473 --> 00:31:17,343
on medical aid in dying.

522
00:31:18,144 --> 00:31:20,346
TUOHEY: We have a
creator who creates life,

523
00:31:20,379 --> 00:31:24,183
but part of that created order
is there is a natural way that

524
00:31:24,216 --> 00:31:26,352
we die, and return
to our creator.

525
00:31:27,053 --> 00:31:28,955
We shouldn't take
control over that,

526
00:31:28,988 --> 00:31:31,323
but to let it unfold as
nature would have it.

527
00:31:34,260 --> 00:31:37,997
REHM: I know you are a
devout Roman Catholic.

528
00:31:39,598 --> 00:31:41,033
TOFFLER: Striving to be.

529
00:31:41,067 --> 00:31:45,972
REHM: How much does your
religious belief

530
00:31:46,005 --> 00:31:48,407
motivate your thinking?

531
00:31:48,774 --> 00:31:50,276
TOFFLER: It's in sync
with my thinking.

532
00:31:50,309 --> 00:31:52,411
I say all human life
is inherently valuable.

533
00:31:52,444 --> 00:31:54,313
There's a million doctors
in the country, Diane.

534
00:31:54,346 --> 00:31:57,783
And they all don't have the same
sense of reverence for life in

535
00:31:57,816 --> 00:31:59,551
all the stages, the beauty.

536
00:31:59,585 --> 00:32:01,120
TUOHEY: So in the
Catholic tradition,

537
00:32:01,153 --> 00:32:03,822
we would say that as your
quality of life diminishes,

538
00:32:03,855 --> 00:32:08,727
your obligation to pursue
and maintain life diminishes

539
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,096
as well.

540
00:32:10,129 --> 00:32:11,863
When we're just
maintaining life,

541
00:32:11,897 --> 00:32:14,366
that is not living
the fullness of life,

542
00:32:15,334 --> 00:32:18,704
so we're allowed to say no to
medical interventions that would

543
00:32:18,737 --> 00:32:20,806
prolong that life.

544
00:32:20,839 --> 00:32:25,044
REHM: But what about
medical aid in dying?

545
00:32:25,544 --> 00:32:27,146
TUOHEY: Right.

546
00:32:27,179 --> 00:32:29,315
Since death is a part of life,
we would say it's one thing to

547
00:32:29,348 --> 00:32:31,750
say, you know, my quality
of life is diminishing,

548
00:32:31,783 --> 00:32:33,552
I don't want to
pursue this, that.

549
00:32:33,585 --> 00:32:36,788
It's another thing to step in
and to take over the process.

550
00:32:40,926 --> 00:32:46,398
LAMAR: If I had a magic wand
that would ensure that no person

551
00:32:47,433 --> 00:32:50,636
at all, no matter who they are,
would be discriminated against,

552
00:32:50,669 --> 00:32:54,873
and that they would be treated
fairly and honorably and if this

553
00:32:54,906 --> 00:32:57,943
was that person's decision,
then I would support it.

554
00:32:59,645 --> 00:33:02,014
REHM: Maryland is
just one of the

555
00:33:02,048 --> 00:33:06,818
many states that have
considered medical aid in dying

556
00:33:07,886 --> 00:33:11,090
over the past several years.

557
00:33:12,358 --> 00:33:16,062
LUEDTKE: The opponents of the
bill that contacted me over the

558
00:33:16,095 --> 00:33:18,030
course of the last
couple of years have,

559
00:33:18,064 --> 00:33:21,567
have largely focused
on religious arguments,

560
00:33:21,967 --> 00:33:23,469
moral arguments.

561
00:33:23,502 --> 00:33:28,540
It's always been an issue
that I've struggled with, and,

562
00:33:28,574 --> 00:33:30,809
you know, it's been in the
legislature for a number of

563
00:33:30,842 --> 00:33:33,512
years now, and I was
originally opposed.

564
00:33:33,545 --> 00:33:36,248
And I was worried that it
would normalize suicide.

565
00:33:36,282 --> 00:33:40,352
I was worried that it was,
it was a first step on a,

566
00:33:40,386 --> 00:33:42,288
a slippery slope.

567
00:33:42,321 --> 00:33:45,957
REHM: Do you consider
medical aid in dying suicide?

568
00:33:47,593 --> 00:33:48,827
CHEH: No.

569
00:33:48,860 --> 00:33:51,397
The person is on the
threshold of dying.

570
00:33:51,430 --> 00:33:55,667
We're just choosing how, in that
little window that they have

571
00:33:55,701 --> 00:33:58,270
left, how they choose to die.

572
00:33:59,205 --> 00:34:02,208
SHAVELSON: People who are going
to suicide have the choice to

573
00:34:02,241 --> 00:34:04,543
live and choose
to end their life.

574
00:34:06,245 --> 00:34:09,481
People who are doing
aid in dying don't have the

575
00:34:09,515 --> 00:34:10,949
choice to live.

576
00:34:10,982 --> 00:34:14,120
REHM: Tell me, if you can,

577
00:34:14,153 --> 00:34:17,523
what happened to
change your thinking.

578
00:34:19,024 --> 00:34:22,461
LUEDTKE: It changed with
the death of my mother.

579
00:34:23,229 --> 00:34:28,467
She contracted esophageal
cancer in 2014.

580
00:34:30,902 --> 00:34:32,504
You know, the doctors
did their best to try to

581
00:34:32,538 --> 00:34:33,872
make her comfortable.

582
00:34:33,905 --> 00:34:37,909
She was obviously in
pretty extreme pain,

583
00:34:37,943 --> 00:34:41,046
even with all the palliative
care she was getting.

584
00:34:41,079 --> 00:34:45,117
A few days before she died,
she went into the kitchen and

585
00:34:45,151 --> 00:34:47,286
got the bottle of liquid
morphine that she'd been

586
00:34:47,319 --> 00:34:49,688
prescribed for
the pain and tried to drink it,

587
00:34:49,721 --> 00:34:52,224
tried to commit suicide.

588
00:34:59,398 --> 00:35:02,801
Thinking about my mother and
what she went through and I

589
00:35:02,834 --> 00:35:09,941
began to question whether I had
the right as an elected official

590
00:35:11,243 --> 00:35:17,616
or even as her next of kin to
make that decision for her.

591
00:35:21,620 --> 00:35:26,625
REHM: Delegate Luedtke's story
reminded me of something another

592
00:35:26,658 --> 00:35:33,499
legislator told me, that each
of us is just one bad death away

593
00:35:35,100 --> 00:35:38,904
from supporting these laws.

594
00:35:44,310 --> 00:35:48,647
Bill Roberts and I have been
friends since high school when

595
00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:54,353
we were voted "cutest couple"
in the graduating class.

596
00:35:54,953 --> 00:36:02,694
But in 2018, he was diagnosed
with stage 4 prostate cancer and

597
00:36:03,762 --> 00:36:06,498
congestive heart failure.

598
00:36:07,466 --> 00:36:11,637
As happened with
John Rehm and myself,

599
00:36:11,670 --> 00:36:16,275
Irene and Bill had to
face their own mortality.

600
00:36:18,544 --> 00:36:21,647
ROBERTS: And we have
discussed end of life because

601
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:23,249
friends have died.

602
00:36:23,282 --> 00:36:26,818
You know, and sometimes terrible
things have happened to people

603
00:36:26,852 --> 00:36:32,391
we've loved so much and it was,
it was happening to us.

604
00:36:32,424 --> 00:36:34,926
You know, when you
get to be in your 80s,

605
00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:38,297
you know no one gets out alive.

606
00:36:39,465 --> 00:36:42,601
BILL: I guess there's a bet
going with the doctors at the

607
00:36:42,634 --> 00:36:46,672
hospital as to what'll
get me first, the,

608
00:36:46,705 --> 00:36:48,774
the heart failure or the cancer.

609
00:36:49,808 --> 00:36:55,614
REHM: You live in Colorado
where medical aid in dying

610
00:36:55,647 --> 00:36:57,683
is permitted.

611
00:36:57,716 --> 00:37:01,052
BILL: I feel very lucky
in, in living in Colorado and

612
00:37:01,086 --> 00:37:02,688
having this option.

613
00:37:02,721 --> 00:37:08,727
It will be a gentle easing
into whatever comes next.

614
00:37:09,861 --> 00:37:15,133
I, I, I have no great
anticipation for the next life,

615
00:37:16,302 --> 00:37:20,672
but I'll tell you what, I'll,
I'll find out and I'll try to

616
00:37:20,706 --> 00:37:22,073
let you know.

617
00:37:22,107 --> 00:37:26,077
REHM: That conversation
was bittersweet for me.

618
00:37:27,479 --> 00:37:32,217
I knew that my old
friend would die soon,

619
00:37:32,250 --> 00:37:37,389
but I took comfort in knowing
that he, unlike my husband,

620
00:37:38,757 --> 00:37:43,762
would have the option
of medical aid in dying.

621
00:37:49,768 --> 00:37:52,270
I want to say thank you
to everyone who is here.

622
00:37:52,304 --> 00:37:54,473
I want to say to the proponents,

623
00:37:54,506 --> 00:37:56,475
the people who are
here in favor of the bill,

624
00:37:56,508 --> 00:37:58,777
thank you so much
for all your efforts and I'm so

625
00:37:58,810 --> 00:38:00,312
grateful to have you here.

626
00:38:00,346 --> 00:38:02,481
And I want to say
to the opponents,

627
00:38:02,514 --> 00:38:05,150
thank you for taking
your time to be here...

628
00:38:05,617 --> 00:38:08,987
And so, when the
Maryland legislature took up

629
00:38:09,020 --> 00:38:10,756
the matter again.

630
00:38:10,789 --> 00:38:12,324
CLIPPINGER: We're going to
call House Bill 3.

631
00:38:12,358 --> 00:38:15,461
REHM: And I was
asked to testify,

632
00:38:15,494 --> 00:38:20,699
both Bill Roberts and
John Rehm were very much

633
00:38:20,732 --> 00:38:22,501
on my mind.

634
00:38:22,534 --> 00:38:24,603
CALLINAN: The Maryland
legislation that is before

635
00:38:24,636 --> 00:38:27,639
you today has been
modeled after the Oregon

636
00:38:27,673 --> 00:38:30,241
Death with Dignity Act.

637
00:38:30,275 --> 00:38:33,445
And it's been implemented in
eight other jurisdictions for a

638
00:38:33,479 --> 00:38:35,614
combined 40 years of experience.

639
00:38:36,615 --> 00:38:39,518
And I hope that this time
around that we can bring this

640
00:38:39,551 --> 00:38:41,887
compassionate and
much needed option to the

641
00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:44,790
residents of Maryland.

642
00:38:45,491 --> 00:38:48,527
REHM: Good afternoon,
I'm Diane Rehm.

643
00:38:49,961 --> 00:38:55,467
The legislation you are
considering might have permitted

644
00:38:55,501 --> 00:39:02,641
John Rehm to have the measure
of autonomy that he wanted over

645
00:39:02,674 --> 00:39:05,176
his own death.

646
00:39:06,512 --> 00:39:12,418
By this time, what I had heard
from patients, family members,

647
00:39:12,451 --> 00:39:16,121
physicians and others
had taught me a lot.

648
00:39:17,956 --> 00:39:23,061
This end of life option provokes
strong feelings in people,

649
00:39:23,094 --> 00:39:25,597
as it should,

650
00:39:25,631 --> 00:39:30,335
and as the concerns of the
Maryland lawmakers demonstrated.

651
00:39:31,937 --> 00:39:33,238
CLIPPINGER: Delegate Watson.

652
00:39:33,271 --> 00:39:34,940
WATSON: Thank you, Mr. Chair,

653
00:39:34,973 --> 00:39:36,241
and thank you all
for coming out.

654
00:39:36,274 --> 00:39:37,409
I really appreciate it.

655
00:39:37,443 --> 00:39:38,644
This has answered
a lot of questions,

656
00:39:38,677 --> 00:39:40,446
but I still have one
or two remaining.

657
00:39:40,479 --> 00:39:43,114
LUEDTKE: We had had a very
emotionally wrought debate on

658
00:39:43,148 --> 00:39:44,750
the bill when it came
to the House floor.

659
00:39:44,783 --> 00:39:47,553
It was a very difficult
conversation to have.

660
00:39:48,420 --> 00:39:50,889
WATSON: My concern is based
around the financial capability

661
00:39:50,922 --> 00:39:54,760
and dwindling resources as we
age, of certain demographics.

662
00:39:55,794 --> 00:39:57,863
LEGISLATOR: The concern
from my constituents is like

663
00:39:57,896 --> 00:40:00,499
a lot of them,
they have a concern about fear,

664
00:40:00,532 --> 00:40:03,101
economic situation,
vulnerable community.

665
00:40:03,869 --> 00:40:05,771
WATSON: I mean what if,
at the end of the day,

666
00:40:05,804 --> 00:40:08,540
a health insurance company looks
at it strictly as any business

667
00:40:08,574 --> 00:40:12,778
to maximize revenue, and they
say instead of paying for

668
00:40:12,811 --> 00:40:16,181
someone to take chemo over an
extended period of time when

669
00:40:16,214 --> 00:40:17,883
they're going to
pass away anyway,

670
00:40:17,916 --> 00:40:20,819
let's save money and give
them this one option.

671
00:40:21,787 --> 00:40:24,055
McCOMAS: The, the folks that
maybe don't have the best

672
00:40:24,089 --> 00:40:26,858
insurance to get
the best treatment,

673
00:40:26,892 --> 00:40:28,894
are going to be kind
of if they're in pain,

674
00:40:28,927 --> 00:40:30,328
this may be their only option?

675
00:40:30,361 --> 00:40:31,963
LEGISLATOR: And what the
fact is in the health care

676
00:40:31,997 --> 00:40:33,632
insurance industry,

677
00:40:33,665 --> 00:40:36,835
a dead person is the most
cost effective person of all.

678
00:40:37,569 --> 00:40:41,473
CONAWAY: What's the difference
between this medical aid in

679
00:40:41,507 --> 00:40:43,675
dying medication
and the morphine?

680
00:40:43,709 --> 00:40:46,645
LOPEZ: What happens if the
medication isn't administered

681
00:40:46,678 --> 00:40:49,548
properly or if it
doesn't work as intended?

682
00:40:50,281 --> 00:40:52,551
LEWIS: Can you
explain, very briefly,

683
00:40:52,584 --> 00:40:56,087
what a physician looks to to
determine mental capacity?

684
00:40:56,121 --> 00:41:01,660
LEGISLATOR: How do you respond
to folks who feel very strongly

685
00:41:01,693 --> 00:41:07,933
that aid in dying would increase
the risk of death for truly

686
00:41:07,966 --> 00:41:09,801
vulnerable people?

687
00:41:09,835 --> 00:41:12,938
That is those who are
disabled in some way.

688
00:41:13,905 --> 00:41:17,342
DOCTOR: Amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis, for example, ALS...

689
00:41:17,375 --> 00:41:19,144
CHEH: These laws
that we've passed,

690
00:41:19,177 --> 00:41:20,746
the law here and in
other jurisdictions,

691
00:41:20,779 --> 00:41:23,815
requires that somebody
meet certain criteria.

692
00:41:23,849 --> 00:41:27,085
That means that people who are
not able to self-administer

693
00:41:27,118 --> 00:41:29,387
cannot avail
themselves of this law.

694
00:41:30,221 --> 00:41:32,190
And there was an
interesting divide in the

695
00:41:32,223 --> 00:41:33,692
disabled community.

696
00:41:33,725 --> 00:41:36,061
There were those who were
worried that this would be a

697
00:41:36,094 --> 00:41:38,830
step toward euthanasia and
people who were disabled would,

698
00:41:38,864 --> 00:41:42,433
you know, be at risk,
you know, in the future.

699
00:41:42,467 --> 00:41:44,870
But there are others in the
disabled community who were

700
00:41:44,903 --> 00:41:48,740
disappointed in the legislation
because they said what if we

701
00:41:48,774 --> 00:41:52,043
have a disability that prevents
us from self-administering.

702
00:41:52,077 --> 00:41:56,314
And I said, you know, it's not a
flaw in the legislation so much

703
00:41:56,347 --> 00:41:59,217
it is an understanding of
what we could accomplish

704
00:41:59,250 --> 00:42:00,552
at this time.

705
00:42:01,252 --> 00:42:03,855
CALLINAN: So you have to keep in
mind you've got this legislation

706
00:42:03,889 --> 00:42:06,324
and its protections, but you
also have an entire practice of

707
00:42:06,357 --> 00:42:09,127
medicine where doctors
are licensed and education

708
00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:10,829
and certification.

709
00:42:10,862 --> 00:42:13,398
Those practices and rules
also govern this practice.

710
00:42:14,332 --> 00:42:17,736
LEGISLATOR: I think that we make
a lot of rash and bad decisions

711
00:42:17,769 --> 00:42:19,537
sometimes when we're
in pain, because all...

712
00:42:19,571 --> 00:42:24,743
REHM: The legislators expressed
very understandable concerns.

713
00:42:25,310 --> 00:42:29,047
But in states where laws
have been implemented,

714
00:42:29,748 --> 00:42:34,419
evidence shows the protections
written into them have worked.

715
00:42:35,687 --> 00:42:40,959
Knowing that lets me focus on
what is so important to me,

716
00:42:42,393 --> 00:42:44,095
individual autonomy.

717
00:42:45,230 --> 00:42:52,938
My philosophy in this matter
is to respect that singularly

718
00:42:53,639 --> 00:42:56,808
personal moment for each of us.

719
00:42:58,443 --> 00:43:04,683
If you believe that only
God should be the decider,

720
00:43:06,284 --> 00:43:10,956
I support you 100%.

721
00:43:12,523 --> 00:43:19,330
If you wish to have
every single option that

722
00:43:19,364 --> 00:43:21,967
medical science can provide,

723
00:43:22,934 --> 00:43:27,072
I support you 100%.

724
00:43:29,174 --> 00:43:33,712
And if you believe, as I do,

725
00:43:35,413 --> 00:43:41,987
that you want the
right to end your suffering

726
00:43:42,020 --> 00:43:49,527
at a time you choose,
I support you 100%.

727
00:43:50,228 --> 00:43:52,263
LUEDTKE: The bill went over to
the Senate and I think I lot of

728
00:43:52,297 --> 00:43:54,733
the senators were struggling
with the issue in the same way

729
00:43:54,766 --> 00:43:56,367
that a lot of them
members of the House were.

730
00:43:56,401 --> 00:44:00,538
It did end up tying, one vote
short of what it needed to pass.

731
00:44:00,571 --> 00:44:02,307
I was disappointed
when the bill failed.

732
00:44:02,340 --> 00:44:05,543
REHM: So was I.

733
00:44:05,576 --> 00:44:09,881
But I expect the
bill will come up again,

734
00:44:09,915 --> 00:44:13,752
and I hope it will
pass next time.

735
00:44:16,087 --> 00:44:21,927
Washington, D.C.'s Death with
Dignity Law went into effect in

736
00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:31,136
June of 2017, but no terminally
ill patient actually used the

737
00:44:31,169 --> 00:44:33,839
law for over a year.

738
00:44:36,641 --> 00:44:42,480
One of the first patients to
do so was journalist and artist

739
00:44:43,081 --> 00:44:45,817
Mary Klein.

740
00:44:48,386 --> 00:44:55,093
Stella Dawson was Mary's wife
and life partner for more than

741
00:44:55,126 --> 00:44:57,528
37 years.

742
00:44:58,864 --> 00:45:02,300
DAWSON: Mary was complaining of
stomach pains and of digestive

743
00:45:02,333 --> 00:45:06,838
problems, she said Stella,
I'm really, really tired.

744
00:45:06,872 --> 00:45:12,310
I came back from work and
Mary took my hand and took me

745
00:45:12,343 --> 00:45:16,081
into the living room
and we sat down,

746
00:45:16,114 --> 00:45:21,386
and she said, "Stella,
I think I have cancer."

747
00:45:21,887 --> 00:45:25,791
And so we spent the weekend
researching doctors and got an

748
00:45:25,824 --> 00:45:30,962
appointment and sure enough,
it was advanced ovarian cancer.

749
00:45:33,999 --> 00:45:39,104
She did five series of
chemo because she was,

750
00:45:39,137 --> 00:45:44,175
she wanted to live and
she wanted that opportunity

751
00:45:44,209 --> 00:45:47,678
to enjoy her life.

752
00:45:47,712 --> 00:45:51,917
So she did all that she could
for as long as she could.

753
00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:57,122
Nothing was working.

754
00:45:58,723 --> 00:46:04,095
REHM: Mary's diagnosis came
before medical aid in dying was

755
00:46:04,129 --> 00:46:07,933
legal in Washington, D.C.

756
00:46:08,399 --> 00:46:11,970
But as her disease progressed,

757
00:46:12,003 --> 00:46:16,307
she learned the City Council
would be voting on a bill.

758
00:46:18,476 --> 00:46:20,211
DAWSON: Mary said to me,

759
00:46:20,245 --> 00:46:23,214
"Stella, there's a
chance that we can get

760
00:46:23,248 --> 00:46:25,884
medical aid in dying
here in the District."

761
00:46:25,917 --> 00:46:31,990
so we both hit the telephones,
started writing letters.

762
00:46:34,292 --> 00:46:38,296
And Mary Cheh was the
first person who responded.

763
00:46:39,697 --> 00:46:42,233
CHEH: She was very, very brave.

764
00:46:42,267 --> 00:46:43,701
She was quite ill too.

765
00:46:43,734 --> 00:46:44,970
REHM: I know.

766
00:46:45,003 --> 00:46:46,938
CHEH: And she would come
and she would testify.

767
00:46:46,972 --> 00:46:49,340
GROSSO: She was not even sure
that the law would be in place

768
00:46:49,374 --> 00:46:51,877
before she passed away.

769
00:46:51,910 --> 00:46:55,013
And so I remember her saying,
"This is what I'm trying to do

770
00:46:55,046 --> 00:46:57,916
with my end of life is give
somebody in the future the

771
00:46:57,949 --> 00:47:01,519
freedom to make this decision
and not have to go through what

772
00:47:01,552 --> 00:47:02,720
I've gone through."

773
00:47:03,021 --> 00:47:04,856
KLEIN: And let me just say,

774
00:47:04,890 --> 00:47:07,025
these are difficult
conversations to have

775
00:47:07,058 --> 00:47:08,693
with your doctor.

776
00:47:08,726 --> 00:47:11,262
REHM: Mary spoke out at a

777
00:47:11,296 --> 00:47:13,798
public meeting saying,

778
00:47:14,699 --> 00:47:16,902
"I can't find a doctor

779
00:47:16,935 --> 00:47:21,139
who is willing to
participate with me."

780
00:47:22,207 --> 00:47:26,644
So how difficult was
it to find that doctor?

781
00:47:27,979 --> 00:47:29,881
DAWSON: It was very stressful.

782
00:47:29,915 --> 00:47:32,250
REHM: Mary Klein was
referred to you?

783
00:47:33,184 --> 00:47:34,485
ROTH: She told me

784
00:47:34,519 --> 00:47:36,287
as soon as we met

785
00:47:36,321 --> 00:47:38,223
that she was looking for
a physician to help her.

786
00:47:39,357 --> 00:47:41,626
DAWSON: And she said,
"I've never done this.

787
00:47:41,659 --> 00:47:44,029
If you're willing to on
this journey with me,

788
00:47:44,062 --> 00:47:46,097
I'm willing to go
on it with you."

789
00:47:46,131 --> 00:47:47,698
REHM: Wow.

790
00:47:49,034 --> 00:47:53,204
DAWSON: Mary saw this
as part of a continuum of care

791
00:47:54,172 --> 00:47:58,343
and she was enrolled in hospice
and was very pleased with the

792
00:47:58,376 --> 00:47:59,544
hospice care she got.

793
00:47:59,577 --> 00:48:00,946
REHM: Good.

794
00:48:00,979 --> 00:48:03,648
DAWSON: But she was
waiting as long as she could

795
00:48:03,681 --> 00:48:05,951
with the medications
that we had that she could

796
00:48:05,984 --> 00:48:08,386
manage and they
weren't working anymore.

797
00:48:09,921 --> 00:48:11,489
They weren't working.

798
00:48:11,522 --> 00:48:14,459
ROTH: At the very end, I said
you know I could give you enough

799
00:48:14,492 --> 00:48:19,564
medicine so that you just would
sleep for the rest of the time

800
00:48:19,597 --> 00:48:22,333
you have, and she said
I don't want that.

801
00:48:25,170 --> 00:48:30,008
DAWSON: She did not want to
be in a coma or a semi coma

802
00:48:30,041 --> 00:48:31,909
at the end of her life.

803
00:48:31,943 --> 00:48:34,946
She wanted to be present,

804
00:48:34,980 --> 00:48:38,749
she wanted to be with
me and the dogs.

805
00:48:40,818 --> 00:48:42,620
She wanted to be
able to say goodbye.

806
00:48:42,653 --> 00:48:44,956
REHM: Of course.

807
00:48:44,990 --> 00:48:47,692
DAWSON: And it was that
night she said to me,

808
00:48:47,725 --> 00:48:50,895
Stella it's time.

809
00:48:52,263 --> 00:48:56,701
You don't know it's going
to be the end, do you?

810
00:48:56,734 --> 00:48:57,868
REHM: No.

811
00:48:57,902 --> 00:48:59,037
DAWSON: You don't.

812
00:48:59,070 --> 00:49:01,006
REHM: You don't, you don't.

813
00:49:01,039 --> 00:49:03,274
DAWSON: You know, even though,
even though she said something

814
00:49:03,308 --> 00:49:07,945
like that, I still thought
she had several weeks.

815
00:49:07,979 --> 00:49:12,683
ROTH: I visited her four days
before she died and then again

816
00:49:12,717 --> 00:49:14,252
on the day that she died.

817
00:49:14,285 --> 00:49:15,753
REHM: Oh, I'm so glad.

818
00:49:15,786 --> 00:49:18,856
ROTH: And Mary was dying,
that last time I saw her.

819
00:49:18,889 --> 00:49:22,027
I, she died from ovarian cancer.

820
00:49:22,060 --> 00:49:26,397
She did not die from the
potion that she drank,

821
00:49:26,964 --> 00:49:29,834
that just affected
the time she died.

822
00:49:29,867 --> 00:49:32,470
But she was already dying.

823
00:49:32,503 --> 00:49:38,576
DAWSON: She just laid back and
went into a very deep sleep.

824
00:49:39,010 --> 00:49:43,014
REHM: And you were
right there with her.

825
00:49:43,048 --> 00:49:45,650
DAWSON: It was about
two and a half hours before

826
00:49:45,683 --> 00:49:48,386
she passed away.

827
00:49:48,419 --> 00:49:51,356
And she died in my arms.

828
00:49:53,124 --> 00:49:54,759
That's what she wanted.

829
00:49:54,792 --> 00:49:59,397
That's exactly, it's what she
fought so very, very hard for.

830
00:49:59,430 --> 00:50:03,468
It's a peaceful death.

831
00:50:03,501 --> 00:50:08,073
And it's a loving death.

832
00:50:14,779 --> 00:50:17,548
I think that's all I can say.

833
00:50:24,222 --> 00:50:26,457
(siren)

834
00:50:26,491 --> 00:50:31,596
REHM: In 2020, humanity
began a long struggle with the

835
00:50:31,629 --> 00:50:34,232
COVID-19 pandemic,

836
00:50:34,265 --> 00:50:38,669
tens of millions
became infected and many,

837
00:50:38,703 --> 00:50:41,572
many deaths were
reported each day.

838
00:50:42,707 --> 00:50:48,179
In this country, I think this
has led more of us to recognize

839
00:50:48,213 --> 00:50:54,352
the importance of making our end
of life wishes known to those

840
00:50:54,385 --> 00:50:56,154
close to us.

841
00:50:58,356 --> 00:51:01,025
Then would you be good
enough to take the phone

842
00:51:01,058 --> 00:51:04,595
out of your
pocket and video this?

843
00:51:04,629 --> 00:51:06,197
ZIDE: Okay.

844
00:51:06,231 --> 00:51:11,169
REHM: Because I would very much
like your mother, your father,

845
00:51:11,202 --> 00:51:18,943
uncle Dave, Aunt Nancy,
everybody to know exactly how I

846
00:51:18,976 --> 00:51:22,747
feel about what I'd
like at the end of life.

847
00:51:23,314 --> 00:51:24,515
ZIDE: Do you want
me to record it?

848
00:51:24,549 --> 00:51:25,883
REHM: Please.

849
00:51:25,916 --> 00:51:30,054
To my family, my physician
and any hospital...

850
00:51:31,356 --> 00:51:36,194
I believe that the more we learn
to talk openly about death,

851
00:51:37,395 --> 00:51:39,063
the better.

852
00:51:39,096 --> 00:51:45,336
It's been such a taboo subject
for many of us for too long,

853
00:51:46,337 --> 00:51:51,376
but if we can discuss what
we want with our friends,

854
00:51:51,409 --> 00:51:58,483
our doctors, our families, if we
can make our own wishes known to

855
00:51:58,516 --> 00:52:03,988
those who care about us,
everyone will be more prepared,

856
00:52:05,523 --> 00:52:11,929
and the end of life will be
less stressful and could be more

857
00:52:11,962 --> 00:52:14,432
joyous for us all.

858
00:52:16,367 --> 00:52:22,440
As for me, in my early 80s,
I'm living life to the fullest.

859
00:52:24,242 --> 00:52:29,914
I'm still working,
I've remarried, I travel,

860
00:52:30,881 --> 00:52:33,751
I have a new puppy.

861
00:52:33,784 --> 00:52:36,854
Life is wonderful.

862
00:52:37,788 --> 00:52:44,762
But, I have also prepared
for what will eventually come

863
00:52:44,795 --> 00:52:49,967
for all of us,
and I'll be ready

864
00:52:51,202 --> 00:52:54,171
when my time comes.

865
00:53:05,850 --> 00:53:11,389
(music plays
through credits)



