Terminally Ill Have Rights
by: Benjamin Sebastian
“Terminal illness brings a lot of sadness to families” Tiffany Cuevas says. The Senate sponsor for Bill R1-01, from Addison Trail High School, proposes a Voluntary Assisted Dying bill, which would allow terminally ill patients to pass away of their own volition.
Cuevas says that she was inspired to write this bill because she saw an article about a woman who was suffering from terminal illness. She wished that her pain would end, and her son was upset he could not fulfill her wish.
When asked what problems this bill would solve, Cuevas responded with conviction. She says “It sympathizes with people; you are seeing your relatives on a bed, not being able to do anything to stop their suffering. [It aims] to complete the wish of a patient [who] wishes to cease [to exist] on their own terms, because it is not fair for them to see other states have more medical options whereas Illinois does not have options for this.”
Of course, there is controversy with this topic. As Cuevas elaborates, some religions may not deem it appropriate. Overall, one side argues that a doctor should not be able to kill the patient, but the other says that the real mission of a physician should be to complete their patient’s wishes.
This bill, she also states, is different from Physician Assisted Suicide, where there has to written statements signed, stating that this is the patient’s decision and that they made the decision while in a stable mental state.
