More Will Be Revealed

You are all my witnesses:

Should I arrive at a point where I am terminally ill with less than six months to live, and I'm of sound mind, I would like my "death-hastening" medications served in applesauce, all crushed up.

Now, my right to take such control over my own demise may be abrogated in the very near future by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is debating the validity of a legal challenge to Oregon's death with dignity law. I hope I'm wrong in thinking that the conservatives' hypocritical attack on personal choices (see Schiavo, Terri) will somehow be blunted by a populace suddenly awakened to the fact that it has been sold a complete bill-of-goods by the GOP. Anti-tax-and-spenders have become the biggest spenders since LBJ, and they love states' rights until those rights cross some arbitrary moral line in the sand. And this popular "what the hell?" will turn into a common-sense revolution, with one outcome being that my personal freedom to control how my final, possibly agonizing days on this earth go down will have been protected.

I know the Oregon law well. I voted for it a couple of times, and I worked for a health policy journal during the second election that hosted a debate on the topic. I don't arrive at this opinion lightly, and I can't promise you I won't turn chickenshit if I'm presented the opportunity. I may cling to every last painful breath. But if I can make that choice -- to fight and avail myself of every medical hail mary -- why can't I also decide to accept the inevitably of the end and manage those months/weeks/days as I see fit? Who is that hurting, if I have the love and support of my family (as I assume I will)?

So, applesauce. And not the chunky kind, and not the all-natural kind. I like it straight and sweet.