Tomorrow, Thursday, April 4, Catherine Marienau and Terri Powell will present a program titled, “Expanding End-of-Life Options.” Hosted by Arbor West Neighbors (AWN), this program will be held at the Oak Park Main Branch Library, 834 Lake St., from 2 to 4 p.m., in the second floor Veterans Room.
Catherine and Terri will present and lead an informed discussion about medical aid in dying and other things to consider as we and our loved ones approach the inevitable. I encourage everyone to attend as you are able.
If I asked you, “Are aging and dying inevitable?” of course you’d say yes. So why do so many of us fear and deny something inevitable?
End-of-life options, an important conversation for all of us, has been made even more timely because of recent developments in Springfield. In early February of this year, State Senator Linda Holmes introduced SB 3499, titled The End-Of-Life Options For Terminally Ill Patients Act. Because of this bill, citizens of Illinois now have the very real possibility of joining the citizens of 10 other states and the District of Columbia in having the option of a death that aligns with our priorities, values and beliefs.
Senator Holmes’ bill, SB 3499, will allow adult Illinois citizens, who are terminally ill and mentally capable, the option to request from their doctor a prescription for medication they can decide to self-ingest in order to die peacefully in their sleep. This is an important option for all of us.
Let’s be clear, medical aid in dying (MAID) is not “physician-assisted suicide,” a misleading and factually incorrect label. To be eligible for an aid-in-dying prescription, an individual must be:
1. an adult (18 or older)
2. terminally ill with a prognosis of six months or less to live
3. mentally capable of making their own health-care decisions
4. able to self-ingest the medication
In addition to all four of the above criteria, there are additional safeguards in SB 3499. Not only must the attending physician inform their terminally ill patient about all other care options (including comfort care, hospice care, pain control, palliative care), the physician must also
a) inform their patient that they can change their mind at any time and
b) offer them an opportunity to do so.
At the AWN program, join Catherine and Terri to explore what options lie ahead in your future, the current status of SB 3499, and how the compassionate option of medical aid in dying protects patients while improving care across the end-of-life spectrum.
If you or a loved one are having a difficult time while dying, would you want the option of peace of mind and comfort? If yes, remember to tell your elected state representative that you support SB 3499. You can do that at https://tinyurl.com/ILcontactnow
Aging is a continuum from birth to death. Aging is life. If birth and death are two sides of the same coin, aging is the coin. Ignoring, denying and fearing what is inevitable is the hard way out.
I always think that conscious aging is about living with intention. It can just as easily be about dying with intention.