When is it Right To Die?

In the early nineties when I was a sophomore in high school I wrote a research paper on the right to die. Back then I was for it, I was young and somewhat healthy, my views have changed a bit since my sophomore year in high schools but not by much. In Joni Earekcson Tada book When is it Right to Die? She writes about the subject of the right to die from the perspective of a Christian woman with a disability. I respect Tada a lot, I have read several of her books and she has encouraged and lead an exemplary life. While reading, I realize that I agreed with much she had to say about euthanasia. When I wrote my paper I thought a person who got a diagnosis that said they were going to die deserved to have their wishes respected. It didn’t seem like they were during this time period. However, like a few of the cases I have seen played out in the media where hospice and hospital workers made the choice for the patient of starving patients to death because their lives didn’t seem like they were worth it anymore is simply wrong. This is a deep and painful subject for many. For me, I have done what Tada suggested with getting an advance directive and a POLST so that my family knows what my wishes are. Back in 2010 when I went in for a simple dilation surgery and ended up having a spasm and almost dying I didn’t have these things in place. I know my family and they communicate well and they new my wishes, but the hospital and medical team did not know and gave my family a hard time. So when I got out of the hospital I got an advance directive and a POLST and I communicated my wishes to my family. They all know. Communication is vital when you have a disability or health problem. I know this. And communicating about when you are going to die helps with grieving and healing so that no one feels left out or not heard.

I believe everyone needs to read Joni Eareckson Tada’s book When is it Right to Die?, it will help them and guide them in how to come to the decision and help heal the people that are left behind.