Medical aid in dying must be an option

The letter “State has a proper role in suicide cases” [Oct. 25] from disability rights advocate Diane Coleman cited two cases in Oregon in which she claims insurers denied coverage for prescribed chemotherapy, but offered coverage for assisted suicide.

I suspect that many of us who have health insurance have been denied coverage for treatment at least once. No one has ever been denied treatment for a terminal illness because his or her state allows for medical aid in dying.

Disability Rights Oregon, a group that safeguards the rights of those living with disabilities, has affirmed that over two decades, since Oregon’s Death with Dignity law has been in effect, there has not been a single case of abuse or misuse.

That’s why support is increasing for medical aid in dying across the country and here in New York, including recent endorsements from the New York State Public Health Association and the New York State Academy of Family Physicians.

Dr. Yale Rosen, North Bellmore

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Diane Coleman, executive director of Not Dead Yet, doesn’t have to agree, and I respect that. But let me have my option.

My best friend, Harry, worked very hard to live with brain cancer for seven and half years. Then he found out he had bone cancer.

His primary care physician told him he would make him as comfortable as possible. Hospice came to our home. Harry had pain medicine, which most of the time did not help. He begged me to help him die, and I could not. Harry wanted to die peacefully, and he did not.

Medical aid in dying is not the same as assisted suicide. Terminally ill people would choose to live.

Janet Green, Poughkeepsie