Demanding the right to die

With dignity:

While many politicians are reluctant even to associate their names with the issue, it is even more striking for Gardner, who during his governorship constantly frustrated fellow Democrats with his reluctance to lobby for any particular measure.

Last weekend, however, he stood before a convention of social workers, beating the drum.

"I feel that God gave me a mission in life, and he also gave me the ability to think -- that includes thinking about when I want to leave early," he told the 150 caregivers. "Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of a pinhead politician who can't pass ninth-grade biology."

His quips won the expected chuckles, and afterward several attendees gave him a standing ovation. One asked where she could sign up to help. It was not surprising, as the National Association of Social Workers was among the first groups in Washington to endorse aid-in-dying 16 years ago, during its last go-round as a voters initiative.

[snip]

But the years since Washington voters first rejected physician-assisted suicide may have made the difference. Oregon, for example, has not been flooded with elderly patients seeking to die. Nor were any of those who used the Death With Dignity Act disabled before being pronounced terminal. And aging baby boomers say their growing numbers could finally tip the scales.

While the Washington State Medical Association opposed the practice 16 years ago, the group's president, W. Hugh Maloney, acknowledged that his 9,000 members are "passionately split."

Amazing how an imminent and unpleasant death makes one finally realize what all the noise was about over the Death with Dignity acts introduced to state assemblies about the country.

Nobody wants to be Terry Schiavoed.