All of us have different life experiences, which will bring us to different views on the subject of euthanasia.

As some of us have watched loved ones suffer from terminal cancer or other deadly diseases, I am sure that we have thought, “I wish the suffering could end”. But how many of us actually want to make the life-altering decision to end their lives prematurely?

The Washington Medical Association has opposed assisted suicide since 1991. How can we ask doctors, who take the Hippocratic Oath which says that they should never do deliberate harm to anyone for anyone else’s interest, to prescribe pills that will ultimately end their patient’s life before it is time?

We are supposed to trust our caregivers, including doctors, to do what is best for us. Asking them to prescribe a medication that will kill us is asking a doctor to go against everything he has stood for as a physician.

It seems that there are enough loopholes in this Initiative that a greedy heir could really decide that their parent’s life isn’t worth as much as their money.

The wording states that the decision has to be voluntary with two “objective witnesses”, however, one of those witnesses can be that greedy heir who has coerced or guilted the parent into signing his life away.

Many terminally ill patients already feel like a burden and with rising health care costs, could easily be convinced that they are better off dead than using what is left of their money to keep them alive for only a few more months.

A physician can give the lethal dose or it can be “self-administered” and no one has to actually witness the death itself. Therefore, that greedy heir could shove the dosage down the throat of the ill parent and basically get away with murder.

Although, it states that no one can exert undue influence, with the parent gone, how could this be proven?

In the State of Washington we already have laws in place that allow patients to deny care they do not want or feel they do not need. We also have hospice care available 24/7 and pain medications available that can make the pain almost non-existent.

Patients are also allowed to self-medicate their pain medication in certain situations.

In this day and age, medical advances are being made each and every day. So, who’s to say that a treatment will not become available for someone who now has been told they are terminally ill with only a few months to live?

About 13 years ago, I had a co-worker who suffered from HIV and ultimately died of AIDS. When she was diagnosed, there wasn’t much anyone could do for her.

Today, with the medication cocktails and advanced technology, people suffering from HIV are living full and long lives. Look at Magic Johnson who thought he was given a death sentence 17 years ago but is still alive and well.

I know that it is painful to watch someone you love die and feelings of guilt overwhelm families and friends because there is nothing more you can do for your dying loved one. But, for me, the only way to find peace with the death of a loved one would be to know that I stood by their side through the bad times and loved them to the bitter end.

Thinking that they ended their life prematurely to make sure they weren’t a burden on me would only add to the grief the loss of life brings.

To find out more about the language of I-1000 visit the Washington State Secretary of State website.