Last Wednesday, D.C. councilmember Mary Cheh introduced a bill that may bring “death with dignity” laws to the District. The law will allow terminally ill patients who are mentally competent to end their own lives with the assistance of two doctors. Similar laws are already in effect in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and New Mexico.
Cheh is already bracing herself for the torrent of criticism from conservative and religious groups over the bill. In an address made to Italian Catholic doctors on Nov. 13, Pope Francis called efforts like Cheh’s a “false sense of compassion” and criticized the push to legalize euthanasia as a symptom of “throw-away culture”. He argues that proponents of euthanasia legislation view the sick and the old as disposable items, ignoring the fact that “human life is always sacred, valuable and inviolable.” Given the Pope’s staunch opposition to the bill, Catholic leaders in the District are sure to rally against the bill as it moves through D.C. Council’s legislative processes.
As a Catholic institution, Georgetown takes a strong stance on protecting and defending Catholic values. For example, it refuses to recognize H*yas for Choice, a pro-choice group known for distributing condoms on campus. The university hospital also does not perform abortions, and medical school students will not find topics on abortion in their curricula. Given this track record, it is likely Georgetown will adhere to Catholic teachings on the sanctity of life and refuse to comply with the terms of Cheh’s “death with dignity” legislation.
Cheh’s bill may contradict the Catholic church’s teachings, but extending “death with dignity” laws to the District, and, perhaps, allowing it as a practice at Georgetown University Hospital, would be a step in the right direction. Cheh’s bill does not take the question of euthanasia lightly, and requires that patients who qualify for the procedure undergo a stringent approval process before they can receive lethal medication. Patients must make an initial oral request for the procedure, followed by a second oral request within fifteen days of the initial request. In addition, a third written request must be made to the attending physician. The physician must also have offered a chance for the patient to rescind the request before prescribing or dispensing the lethal medication. These proposed mechanisms will show greater respect for the lives of terminally ill patients by granting them the free choice to die with dignity.
The choice to end one’s life, regardless of the physical and mental degradation and pain that life brings, is undeniably devastating for one and one’s family. But leaving patients to wait out their illnesses alone on a hospital bed, waiting for death to come at any moment, seems to be the more dehumanizing option. Ultimately, individuals with sound minds should have agency over their own bodies—whether it be on the Hilltop, where students should have free, unrestricted access to birth control to protect themselves, or at Georgetown University Hospital, where patients should have a choice on how to live out their days.
