Dear Editor:

The morning of July 7, 2005, was a day I will never forget; it was the day my grandmother passed away from pancreatic cancer.

The pain she endured during those last few months due to her terminal illness was excruciating and unnecessary.

On Nov. 6, 2012, registered voters in Massachusetts will have the opportunity to vote on Question 2, Prescribing Medication to End Life. If passed, Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) will become legal for qualified terminally ill patients (Galvin, 2012).

I strongly urge voters to vote yes on Question 2. Terminally ill patients must be able to make their own health care decisions with all viable treatment options available to them. PAS provides terminally ill patients with the opportunity to say goodbye to loved ones and pass away in the comfort of their own home, before the pain becomes too unbearable.

My grandmother did not have the option of PAS and I cannot say that my grandmother would have chosen PAS, but I strongly believe that all qualified terminally ill patients deserve the right to have PAS as an option to consider for their end of life care. PAS is not a choice for everyone, but everyone deserves the right to make that choice.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to express my opinion,

Jennifer E. Haley
Nursing Student, University of Massachusetts, Amherst