We should settle for no less, whether people are being treated at home, in nursing homes or in hospitals. We Americans must overcome our squeamish resistance to talking about death and the messy aspects of illness. We must also move beyond our myopic inability to imagine dying as anything other than isolated, agonizing and bleak. It's not necessary to romanticize death to recognize that people can retain the capacity to grow, inwardly and together, through this last stage of life. As a society we can choose a higher road on which to care for our dying.
Common ground is available above the increasingly divisive debate.
To reach it we must raise standards of clinical practice, reform medical education and adopt health policy that expands access to comprehensive palliative care without pauperizing families in the process. Yet, we needn't wait for the courts, Congress or state legislatures to get started. As family members, friends and neighbors, each of us can take responsibility to see that people are treated in a way that allows them to feel wanted and worthy during their terminal frailty and physical dependence. As a nation, we are right to finally confront the stark reality of needless suffering among the dying. The present adversarial debate over assisted suicide is diverting attention from the problem's roots and absorbing the energy and creativity of those most passionate for change.