1. Town Hall #5

2. The story 29 years old, Brittany Maynard was told she had terminal cancer and was given a prognosis of 6 months left to live, during which she would experience considerable physical pain She has decided to move to Oregon, where it is legal for a terminally ill patient to end their life She has chosen November 1 as her day to die. She has a prescription for euthanasia which will allow her to ingest it when she chooses

3. Background: Physician-assisted suicide vs. Euthanasia With physician-assisted suicide, the patient receives the medication and takes it on their own. With euthanasia, the doctor administers the lethal medication to the patient.

4. End-of-life choice Compassion & Choices advocates for death with dignity laws in states across the country so that every American can have the sense of peace that Brittany has sought – without having to entirely uproot their life Currently the organization is campaigning in five states (California, Colorado, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut) for laws that will make aid in dying an authorized, regulated medical practice

5. Public support and current laws Recent national polling puts public support for aid in dying at 70 percent. In the United States there are assisted dying laws restricted to terminally ill and mentally competent adults in Oregon, Montana, Washington and Vermont. In Oregon it is up to the physician to decide whether the patient meets the requirements Since the law was passed in 1997, a total of 1,173 people have had DWDA (Death With Dignity Act) prescriptions written and 752 patients have died from ingesting medications prescribed under the DWDA.

6. Questions to consider Is it ever okay to give someone the tools to terminate their life? What is Judaism’s view on physician-assisted suicide? Is a doctor’s willful prescribing of medication on par with murder? If you are the doctor and your patient requests this medicine, but you do not believe in physician-assisted suicide, what do you do? Should the doctor have ability to decide whether the patient is eligible for the medicine? Should such laws be enacted in California? What would happen if most states approved similar laws?

7. State law vs. National law https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PhGjJz6DEI Dr. Kevorkian is appealing to the Supreme Court – if his appeal passed, this would be a national issue, rather than being dealt with on a state-by-state basis. The Supreme Court left the matter to be determined by individual states Notwithstanding the ruling, should physician-assisted-suicide be a state law or a national law?