In a letter to the Ottawa Citizen published on July 24th, Jeanette Hall, a resident of Oregon, relates that she was diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and had previously voted in favour of assisted suicide in Oregon.
At the time of her diagnosis, she was told she had only six months to a year to live. She decided that she wanted assisted suicide but “didn’t know exactly how to go about doing it.”
Ms. Hall went to see her doctor.
Instead of assisted suicide , we have a dignified outcome to Ms. Hall’s situation. She says:
“I agreed to be treated. I had both chemotherapy and radiation. I am so happy to be alive.
It is now 12 years later. If my doctor had believed in assisted suicide, I would be dead. I thank him and all my doctors for helping me choose “life with dignity”. Assisted suicide should not be legal. Don’t make Oregon’s mistake.”
Indeed, let us not make that mistake.
