I doubt if the Death Cafe meeting will give me the forum I seek but maybe I can meet some people who share my concerns. I want seniors to control the circumstances of death in a supportive environment. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out how to do this.
Expand Oregon's Death with Dignity Act in this way: at some age - the lower, the more controversial, so let's say 80 for the sake of argument - any Oregon citizen can get a peaceful pill for passing. Illness is not required! Age and desire are sufficient.
I want to be part of a political action group that works to get this done. I don't even know where to begin. We'd obviously need legal brains in the group.
Presently you have to have a terminal illness, then find a doctor to give you the pill. What's a terminal illness? For example, my pacemaker lasts four years. What if I refuse to have it replaced? Do I have a terminal illness? If not, can I be a test case and challenge it in court?
Seniors already have a moral right to die as they choose, in my view. But society makes it difficult, ugly, even illegal. They need, WE need, the legal control of our deaths.
Maybe at the Death Cafe I can find others for political action. And maybe not.
