What a disappointing and shallow column from George Will endorsing assisted suicide, based primarily on a bald assertion that autonomous decision making is “death with dignity.” (If committing assisted suicide is “death with dignity,” then are those who die naturally undignified?)

The column was disingenuous and misleading, both in what Will wrote and what he left out. For example, he correctly admits that pain is not the cause of people wanting to kill themselves under Oregon’s assisted suicide law, but “existential suffering,” e.g. fear of being a burden, fear of  losing dignity, etc.. But then he falsely and cruelly claims that these latter matters “cannot be alleviated.”   Talk about hope-destroying! As a hospice volunteer, I have seen with my own eyes that such fear and anguish can be remedied. In fact, that is a crucial part of what hospice does, as do commited mental health professionals who work with seriously ill patients and their families. (For an informed analysis of this question, see the work of Dr. Ira Byock and the book Being Mortal by Atul Gawande).

Read the article “George Will is Wrong to Endorse Assisted Suicide” on nationalreview.com.