Va Debate over Medically Assisted Death, Terminal Cancer Patient Plans to Move from Va to DC for Aid

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Last edited Fri Jan 27, 2023, 12:56 PM - Edit history (5)

- WUSA9, Jan. 27, 2023. (2 mins). Woman with terminal cancer plans move from Virginia after aid in dying bill stalls. Barbara Green was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in July. Doctors told her she only had months to live.
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FALLS CHURCH, Va. — In July of 2022, Barbara Green was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Doctors told her she'd have 8 to 11 months to live. "One day I was perfectly well. The next day I was a cancer victim," said Green. She told WUSA9 she's not scared to die, but is terrified of what will happen to her before she passes. Nobody can tell me what's going to happen to me except that this cancer will kill me," she said. That's why she had hoped Senate Bill 930, would pass.

The legislation would have allowed medically assisted death in Virginia. Tuesday it passed by indefinitely, meaning it will not move forward.

One doctor who testified during the January 20 hearing called the bill unethical and expressed concerns. "It's not compatible with the physician code of healer," he said. "Nobody has to participate if they don't want to, but the people who want this option should have it," said Sean Crowley, who is with the organization Compassion and Choices. He recently lost his mother. "She was desperate for help to end her suffering and I couldn't give it to her it was heartbreaking," he said.

It is currently legal in 10 states and D.C. He says they are currently trying to push for it to be legalized in more states.

Barbara told WUSA9 she's planning to move from Virginia to D.C. in the next couple of months because of this. "It's not that I want to be dead. I want to be alive. I'm doing this chemo because I want to stay alive. But if it gets to the situation where I can't eat, drink, and I'm just suffering -- why why would I want to continue?" She told WUSA9 these days she feels fine, and is trying to continue living her life to the fullest. She said she has no regrets and hopes others will hear her story and take the time to go out there, do that thing, take that trip and live their life to the fullest.

"Nobody knows when they're going to hit with something like this. Someone your age can get hit with this as well," said Green. -- https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/virginia/woman-plans-move-from-after-virginia-medical-aid-in-dying-bill-stalls/65-3100e5fe-e8c8-48e6-9a3f-eb4f2bc282cd
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- Compassion and Choices, FAQ's
https://www.compassionandchoices.org/resource/frequently-asked-questions/
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- Jan. 24, 2023, 'Bill before General Assembly would assist terminally ill in ending their own lives. - The "Virginia Medical Aid in Dying Act" is called a "compassionate choice" by advocates.' 13News Now. - Ed.

RICHMOND, Va. — Advocates say the "Virginia Medical Aid in Dying Act" is all about compassion & empowering people to chart their own end-of-life journeys. It is back before the General Assembly again this year. S-B 390 would give mentally capable, terminally ill adults with 6 months or less to live the legal right to obtain a doctor's prescription for medication they may decide to administer to themselves to peacefully end unbearable suffering.

A person wishing to die because of old age or disability would not be eligible. A similar bill has been the law in Oregon for almost 25 years. "It's the idea that patients have control over their final decisions, that patients in concert with their families & loved ones, as well as their medical team, are in a position to make the appropriate decision for themselves," said Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield), the measure's patron, during a Zoom call Tuesday with the media.

Also weighing in was Melissa Stacey with the Compassion & Choices Action Network, the Portland, Oregon-based nonprofit organization working to improve patient autonomy & individual choice at the end of life. Stacey said: "This is a compassionate choice for people who want the option of aid in dying. Our focus with this legislation is to ensure that people have access to the full range of end-of-life options."

Also speaking in the virtual news conference was a Falls Church woman with terminal pancreatic cancer.

Barbara Green said if the Va. General Assembly fails to pass the bill, she would have to move to Washington, D.C. to use its medical aid-in-dying law. “In July 2022, I was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer,” “I suddenly realized that my own life-threatening diagnosis meant I would have to move to D.C. in the fairly near future in order to avail myself of their Death with Dignity law. I am in the process of doing that now. I should not have to leave Va. to achieve bodily autonomy & do not see how anyone who has watched a loved one suffer through a lingering death could vote against this legislation. I'm hoping that lawmakers think about this as they vote.”

The Senate Subcommittee on Health Professions voted last Friday 5 to 4 to pass the bill by indefinitely...
https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/health/virginia-medical-aid-in-dying-act-general-assembly/291-a3fff177-dab5-42b9-aa9e-c6aee6f3ac3a