The Room Next Door
is a recent film that was adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s novel, What Are You Going Through, and tells the story of two women — Martha, played by Tilda Swinton, and Ingrid, portrayed by Julianne Moore. The former work colleagues reunite after many years under emotionally charged circumstances, when Martha has terminal cancer and wishes to end her life.
In an effort to live her final days pain-free and mentally sound, Martha purchases a black-market euthanasia drug online. She requests that Ingrid be present in an adjacent bedroom when she dies. Ingrid, herself, is petrified of dying, so she tries to convince Martha there is still plenty worth living for. So, the longtime friends rent a vacation home, relax, and reflect on life’s big questions. I won’t reveal any more in case you choose to watch this fantastic film, directed by Pedro Almodovar, where both Swinton and Moore were nominated for Oscars for their roles.
Recent Gallup Poll Examines Views on Euthanasia
A majority of Americans support legal voluntary euthanasia for terminally ill patients who want to end their life, according to a new Gallup poll. Based on the poll, 7 in 10 Americans, or 71 percent, believe medical doctors should be “allowed by law to end a patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his or her family request it.”
“Doctor-assisted suicide is legal in 10 US states and Washington, DC, under stringent requirements. No states currently allow euthanasia, but physicians are ethically allowed to withdraw life-sustaining treatment for a terminal patient should current interventions not facilitate the patient’s quality of life,” according to the study conducted by Gallup.
The Gallup survey, conducted in May 2024, queried 1,024 American adults by phone. Survey findings were as follows:
- As mentioned, 71 percent of those asked believe doctors should be “allowed by law to end the patient’s life by some painless means if the patient and his or her family request it.” Sixty-nine percent agreed with that sentiment in Gallup’s survey a decade ago.
- Sixty-six percent favor legalizing “doctor-assisted suicide,” compared to 58 percent a decade ago. As you can see, support is higher when the intervention is described as ending a patient’s life by some painless means rather than allowing a doctor to assist a patient in committing suicide.
- Most respondents who are in favor of assisted suicide believe that it should be reserved for individuals who are terminally ill and experiencing intense pain, with no hope of recovery.
- A parallel question Gallup asks is about the morality of doctor-assisted suicide. In its latest survey, 53 percent believe it’s morally acceptable for a doctor to help someone end their life, while 40 percent said it’s morally wrong.
- Religion has the most significant impact on one’s perceptions of morality regarding this question. Sixty-seven percent of those who seldom or never attend religious services say doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable, compared with 29 percent of those who attend services weekly; sixty-six percent of the most religious Americans believe doctor-assisted suicide is morally wrong.
- Adults who do not have a religious affiliation or who do not identify with a specific faith (77 percent) are the most inclined to believe that doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable.
- Democrats (79 percent) are more likely than Republicans (61 percent) or Independents (72 percent) to support legal euthanasia.
- There appears to be a regional divide in attitudes, as respondents living in areas that allow doctor-assisted suicide are also among the most likely to say it is moral.
- The majority of states offering end-of-life options are regions on the West Coast. Sixty-six percent of residents in the West, compared to 57 percent of Americans in the East, say doctor-assisted suicide is morally acceptable.
- No states in the South offer doctor-assisted suicide, and only 39 percent of residents of that region say it’s a morally acceptable procedure.
- An outlier is the Midwest, in which 60 percent of residents say doctor-assisted suicide is moral, although no Midwestern states allow the procedure.
- Across the northern border in Canada, assisted dying was legalized nationwide in 2016 for mentally competent adults with an incurable medical condition.
Examples of Planned Suicide and Death with Dignity
In a personal example, in July of 2023, my brother, Jory, ended his own life and suffering through a very deliberate planned suicide. He struggled with major depressive disorder since his early 20s and was diagnosed in his 50s with bipolar disorder. Sadly, his depression got much worse after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) a few years ago. The symptoms of Parkinson’s amplified and worsened Jory’s existing depression, stealing his ability to taste food and swallow; making it difficult for him to walk without stumbling; causing significant hand tremors, pain, and stiffness; and causing him to socially isolate himself and eventually become suicidal. You can read more about Jory in my article, “A Personal Message about Parkinson’s, Depression, and Planned Suicide.”
In another recent example, Milton Andrews (90), of Seattle, Washington, was suffering from a second bout of congestive heart failure and watched the rapid decline of his beloved wife, Ruth, who had dementia. Andrews made a decision that he no longer wanted to live this way and took his own life with pills.
His son, Paul, was shocked, devastated, and even angry about his dad’s death. Now, he just misses him. “I always feel like he was gone too soon, even though I don’t think he felt like that at all,” Paul said. Paul has come to believe that elderly people should be able to decide when they’re ready to die. “I think it’s a human right,” he said. “If you go out when you’re still functioning and still have the ability to choose, that may be the best way to do it and not leave it to other people to decide.”
Dignity in Dying proponent Sir Patrick Stewart agrees saying, “We have no control over how we arrive in the world but at the end of life we should have control over how we leave it.”
Opposition to Assisted Suicide
Despite many Americans supporting legalizing euthanasia, anti-euthanasia advocacy groups strongly oppose it. Many people who are terminally ill have found richness and purpose in life despite the pain and hardship, and some religions are against it.
“Instead of legalizing assisted suicide, which undermines human dignity and puts vulnerable groups at higher risk of abuse and harm, politicians should ensure that investment and infrastructure are in place to make high-quality palliative care accessible by all citizens,” according to David Albert Jones, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Oxford.
Plan Ahead to Tell Loved Ones What You Would Want
Whether or not you agree with medical-aid-in-dying, it is of utmost importance to plan ahead to make sure your end-of-life wishes are known to physicians and to your loved ones.
An Advance Medical Directive specifies what medical and long-term care-related actions should (or should not) be undertaken if you’re too ill or incapacitated to make your own decisions. Numerous personal statements are included in the 4 Needs Advance Medical Directive® describing your history, values (including religious beliefs), and much other information that will help your future caregivers understand or at least have a sense of who you are. This allows caregivers to make informed decisions based on more complete information and allows them to fill in the gaps in unanticipated situations. This document reinforces that the person making it doesn’t want their wishes to be ignored and doesn’t want someone else’s judgment substituted for their own.
Remember, if you don’t have an Advance Medical Directive in place, the following can happen:
- State determines the legal health care decision-maker.
- Medical treatments are not limited in an emergency.
- Decision-makers, families, and health-care providers struggle to determine what you would have wanted.
This is not what you would want your loved ones to think about during such a stressful time!
If you or a loved one has not done Incapacity Planning, Long-Term Care Planning, or Estate Planning (or had your planning documents reviewed in the past several years), now is a good time to plan and get prepared. Call us to make an appointment whenever you are ready:
Elder Law Attorney Fairfax: 703-691-1888
Estate Planning Attorney Fredericksburg: 540-479-143
Elder Care Attorney Rockville: 301-519-8041
Medicaid Asset Protection Attorney DC: 202-587-2797
About Evan H Farr, CELA, CAP
