Compassion & choices

Notes from the campaign trail

I attended the East Central Chapter DFL Senior Caucus meeting in Mora this week to learn more about the End-of-Life Option Act introduced in the last legislative session by Representative Mike Freiberg.

If passed, the Act would authorize medical aid in dying in Minnesota.

Janet Conn volunteers with Compassion and Choices. The organization's  mission is to improve care, expand options and empower everyone to chart their end-of-life journey.

According to Conn, Representative Freiberg's bill would authorize a terminally ill, mentally capable adult with a prognosis of six months or less to live the option to request and obtain medication from their doctor that they can decide to take -- should they choose -- to die peacefully in their sleep if suffering becomes unbearable.

She explained to DFL Senior Caucus members the measure is modeled after the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, which includes over a dozen safeguards.  The Oregon Act has been in practice for 20 years without a single instance of abuse or coercion. Click here to learn more about the Minnesota End-of-Life Option act.

---