YUMA, Ariz- A measure allowing patients who are terminally ill the right to take their own lives with prescription life-ending drugs has sparked much controversy.
Arizona Democratic Lawmaker, Barbara McGuire says her bill lets patients with an incurable disease and six months left to live request medication to end their lives under the care of a physician. However, many people in the Desert Southwest say they wouldn’t take such a pill for many reasons.
McGuire believes this bill should pass and patients should have the right to choose.
Democrat Lynne Pancrazi with Senate District 4 said, this bill is brought up every year for the past nine years that she’s been in office and it never gets a hearing because it’s just way too controversial.
Pancrazi adds, “The chairman of our committee has some major concerns about this bill because the most vulnerable are the elderly and they would be at risk with this bill.”
The state of Arizona and the right to die have never seen eye-to-eye. Pancrazi believes that it will be a long time coming until it even gets a hearing considering the sensitivity.
We asked a few local residents about their thoughts on a death pill and they were not in favor of the idea.
Yuma resident, Will Gloor said, “I don’t agree with that way of terminating. I think that you should die from natural causes. But I can understand with some of the illnesses and the pain and suffering some people go through. I can understand people wanting to have that option. I wouldn’t do it myself but I don’t know if it’s necessarily a bad thing.”
One Yuman says his grandma is suffering from cancer but he doesn’t believe giving her the option in such a vulnerable position to take her life away before it naturally happening would be an appropriate thing to do.
Sami Alsayed said, “My grandpa…she knew that she has cancer in her stomach and we all know that she’s not going to make it but we still have hope. You should have hope always.”