This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I want to thank Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck for introducing the "End of Life Options Act" in the Legislature. I know it has little chance of passing this year, but it introduces a subject we need to start discussing seriously as a community.
As a "baby boomer," I have naturally begun thinking more about end-of-life issues, and just about everybody I talk to on this subject firmly believes that we need to create more options as we face our final days. We all feel that we should have more say in what kind of treatments we receive, how extensive efforts to keep us alive should be and when to pull the plug.
As a group, we do not see virtue in suffering just to stay alive a little longer, and we resent having our options curtailed by others on the basis of their particular religious mores and/or social taboos. They are free to apply these standards to their own lives and families, but not to ours.
So I do hope the legislators will seriously consider and act on this bill. I feel strongly that establishing legal, end-of-life choices is the next big civil rights issue we must address and make a reality.
Keller Higbee
Salt Lake City