QUESTION 2: What a "yes" vote will do

QUESTION 2: PRESCRIBING MEDICATION TO END LIFE

A YES VOTE would enact the proposed law allowing a physician licensed in Massachusetts to prescribe medication, at the request of a terminally-ill patient meeting certain conditions, to end that person’s life.

ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF QUESTION 1:

When my father was diagnosed with brain cancer, he had little time left. As his final days neared, he chose to use the Death with Dignity law in his home state of Oregon. The Massachusetts version, like those in other states, will allow mentally competent adults with no chance to survive their illness to take life-ending medication prescribed by a physician.

My dad knew he wanted to die in the comfort of his own home; competent and aware instead of detached and sedated; on his own terms instead of those of a fatal disease that had already taken too much.

My dad was already dying, but because of this law, he could say goodbye to those he loved, with dignity and grace in my mother’s arms.

I urge you to vote “Yes” because, while this choice isn’t for everyone, everyone has the right to this choice.

- Heather Clish, Reading, MA