CHICAGO (AP) — Deb Robertson counted the days, hoping she’d live long enough for a new Illinois law to go into effect that allows terminally ill people like her to use a lethal prescription to end their lives.
asserted
people → count → lives
A diagnosis of a rare, aggressive form of cancer had forced her into retirement after three decades of working with homeless youth.
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diagnosis → force → youth
As the disease quickly spread through her body, she felt “like a walking time bomb.”
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she → spread → bomb
But she found a new purpose, becoming a public face of a movement in favor of life-ending options.
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she → find → options
She shared her story publicly and traveled from her home near Chicago to Springfield, the state capital, to convince lawmakers it was vital to legalize medically assisted death.
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it → share → death
The day came on Sept. 12.
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day → come → Sept.
She celebrated at home with friends and family as “Deb’s law,” named after her, took effect.
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law → celebrate → effect
Illinois became the first Midwestern state and the 13th state overall (plus the District of Columbia) to authorize the option.
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Illinois → become → option
“I believe that God gave me this extra time so that I could see this law through,” said Robertson, 68.
uncertain
Robertson → believe → law
“I believe that people have the right to leave this Earth with dignity and on their own terms.
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people → believe → terms
In recent years, the practice of allowing doctors to help terminally ill patients end their lives with medication has been legalized in several countries, with many more considering it.
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many → allow → it
In the U.S., New York and Illinois recently became the latest states to join an accelerating pace of such legislation.
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York → become → legislation
The issue remains bitterly contested
Opponents, including many religious groups, lawmakers and disability advocates, have moral objections to someone ending their life.
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someone → include → life
Even with safeguards in place, some argue, the decision could be made for the wrong reasons.
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decision → argue → reasons
“It puts people like myself — people with developmental and mental disabilities, as well as physical disabilities — in danger,” said Ebony Payne, a Chicago-based disability advocate who is quadriplegic.
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who → put → danger
She was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against “Deb’s law,″ contending it discriminates against people with disabilities.
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it → contend → disabilities
Even Pope Leo XIV weighed in, urging Gov. JB Pritzker not to sign the bill.
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XIV → weigh → bill
Leo later said he was “very disappointed” that his home state of Illinois approved a law condemned by the Catholic Church.
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state → say → Church
Polls show that most Americans think medical aid in dying is either morally acceptable or not a moral issue, although opinions vary across different faiths and political lines.
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opinions → show → faiths
Dr. Jessica Kaan, medical director for End of Life Washington, an advocacy group, has helped hundreds of patients in Washington and Oregon with assisted dying.
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Kaan → help → dying
Her mother, a practicing Christian, opposes it on religious grounds: “She’s horrified that I’m involved in any way.”
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I → practice → way
Kaan says she’s an advocate for choices.
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she → say → choices
Her perspective is shaped by the types of deaths she has witnessed.
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she → shape → deaths
Among them are patients with ALS, a progressive disease that attacks nerve cells controlling muscles throughout the body. “It’s a particularly gruesome and awful way for most people to even anticipate their dying,” she said about a disease that takes away the body’s ability to move and speak.
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that → attack → ability
For many terminally ill patients, she said, having the option gives them a sense of comfort, even if they eventually might not use it.
“I respect that people don’t want to choose that as an option for themselves.
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people → say → themselves
What I don’t love is for people trying to police that for other people.
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love → love → people
How a California man prepared to die
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man → prepare → ?
Peter Redgrove of San Diego, a late-stage bone marrow cancer and leukemia patient, used California’s assisted-dying law on Sunday.
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Redgrove → use → Sunday
After 19 rounds of chemotherapy, he decided to set the terms of his death following a long, pain-wracked hospital stay.
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he → decide → stay
“I see no point in enduring pain and suffering emotionally, psychologically and physically, when there are means to end it,” said Redgrove, 85, days before he took the lethal prescription cocktail in a cup emblazoned with Sylvester, his favorite character from the Looney Tunes.
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he → see → Tunes
“I don’t think you get extra points for hanging in to the bitter end.”
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you → think → end
Redgrove grew up in Catholic orphanages in England before moving to the U.S.
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Redgrove → grow → U.S.
Although he was no longer a practicing Catholic, he remained close to his faith, often wearing a crucifix he only gave away right before his death.
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he → practice → death
“An all-loving God is not going to punish me and throw me into a fire pit because I’m doing this,” Redgrove said in his room at a residential facility, where he spent his last days listening to classical music and reminding people to be kind.
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he → love → people
With a death doula’s help, he invited loved ones to a celebration of his life that included Champagne, a shroud to wrap his body in his favorite royal purple and a final song: “Time” by The Alan Parsons Project.
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that → invite → Project
Before he took his last breath, he read a Buddhist prayer.
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he → take → prayer
State by state, the movement has spread
Oregon was the first U.S. state to pass a medical aid-in-dying law; it took effect in 1997.
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it → spread → 1997
As other states followed suit, what remains generally consistent is that to use the laws, one must have an incurable illness and less than six months to live, said Thaddeus Pope, a bioethicist at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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Pope → follow → Paul
To qualify, one must also be able to understand and make a voluntary decision and be able to take the prescribed medications without assistance.
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one → qualify → assistance
The latest states to legalize medical aid in dying are among the most populous: New York, where it took effect in August, and Illinois earlier this month.
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it → legalize → August
…and 42 more, not listed.
The Aporia
