Final Exit Network

Ensuring Death with Dignity

Ensuring Death with Dignity
by Wendell Stephenson, President of Final Exit Network

Armond and Dorothy Rudolph — 92 and 90 years of age — didn’t set out to make national news. But their story should serve as a clarion call for overhauling the conflicting, ambiguous and sometimes cruel regulations currently governing end-of-life decisions in this country.

Armond suffered from spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column that causes acute pain and numbness in the limbs. Dorothy was almost completely physically immobilized. Both had developed early-stage dementia.

In August, after consulting with family and friends, the Rudolphs decided to hasten their deaths by refusing food and water. Three days into their fast, they relayed their decision to administrators of their assisted living facility in Albuquerque, N.M. Facility officials responded by summarily evicting them from their apartment the very next morning. The Rudolphs resisted. So administrators called the police to have the couple forcibly transported to a nearby hospital.

Fortunately, with the help of their children, they were able to relocate to a private residence. Assisted by hospice workers, they continued their fast. A week later, husband and wife — married 69 years — died within 24 hours of each other, surrounded by family.

There are thousands of Americans like Armond and Dorothy, burdened with painful, irreversible conditions and considering whether to hasten death. This population isn’t “suicidal.” They have already enjoyed full, long lives, and they know their time is at an end.

Instead of treating people like the Rudolphs with compassion and support, however, authorities believe they are in a better position to make life decisions for these mentally competent adults. Notably, Georgia has made it a felony for an outside group even to talk with people about end-of-life options.

These restrictive regulations are morally wrong and they don’t square with public opinion. Polls show that roughly 70 percent of American adults — and about 60 percent of the elderly — think the terminally ill should have the right to end their own lives.

Currently, “voluntarily stopping eating and drinking” (VSED) is often the only legal, humane option patients have. Done right, VSED can bring a safe and peaceful end; however, the process is relatively lengthy, between one and two weeks on average. To manage any pain, patients require sustained palliative care, which is often difficult and expensive to arrange.

Americans facing end-of-life choices deserve other options. Inexpensive, safe and pain-free alternatives exist. Yet, just months ago, the FBI and other heavily armed law enforcement agencies staged a dawn raid on the home of a 91-year-old woman to stop her from making helium hoods (one such painless alternative) in this country.

People who make the decision for self-deliverance after much soul searching, consultations with medical staff and discussions with family and friends deserve a dignified death free of pain and with loved ones at their side during the process.

Wendell Stephenson is the president of the Final Exit Network.