Dare to Be 100: Bravo Jerry

Over the weekend our excellent California governor Jerry Brown signed California state bill ABX2-15, widely known as "The End-of-Life Options Act." It allows under sternly restricted circumstances a patient with a terminal illness to request medical aid in hastening death. Before deciding there was general speculation about whether he would sign. As a young man for a while he pursued the path to becoming a Jesuit priest. This bill was opposed to the official doctrines of his chosen church. He spent a month at Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying in Calcutta where he observed the act of dying in bold outline. I,too, personally spent several hours with her on a Palm Sunday in Calcutta. When I displayed my great discomfort with the ethical and financial contusions of my profession she gently heard me out, and tilted her head and said "Dr. Bortz, don't worry about any of that just love them." I was prepared for any other discussion point but love was not among my easily assessed talking points. The next day I spent one of the most humbling experiences of my life trying to feed porridge to her group of clearly dying persons. That moment lingers. Jerry was also governor 40 years ago. In the interim he revitalized Oakland as mayor. When he was mayor he lived in a tinny warehouse. He refused to live in the governor's mansion in Sacramento, and importantly, to myself, he is a runner. He spent six months in Japan in 1988 studying Buddhist meditation. As he reflected on this bill at...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news