Hospice for Jimmy Carter – Letter to the S.D. Union Tribune by Faye Girsh

In 2015, Former President Jimmy Carter announced he had been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma (cancer) – found during a surgery on his liver – that had spread to his brain. After a series of hospital stays, he chose to enter hospice care at home in early 2023 and forgo medical treatment for his illness. The following is a letter from HSSD founding board member Faye Girsh to the San Diego Union Tribune regarding an article announcing his decision.

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We are pleased that Jimmy Carter has chosen to have hospice care at home in his final days.  Being in Georgia his choices are limited to the possibility of a prolonged death with hospice attempting to palliate his symptoms, which could be pain, shortness of breath, the
indignities of diaper changes, immobility, and not being able to enjoy the activities that gave his life meaning and joy.  Hospice must often sedate a patient almost to unconsciousness to relieve those end-of-life symptoms that bring discomfort.

We in California are fortunate to at least have the End-of-Life Option Act which permits two doctors to approve the prescription of lethal medication but only if the person is judged by those doctors to have six months or less to live, to be a resident of California, and to be of sound mind to make such a decision.  And she must also be able to ingest the medication on her own.

Compared with some other countries our law is the most restrictive. Canada, for instance, does not require the six month criterion and the person can choose to have a lethal injection.

We have a long way to go in this country, and even in California, to insure that people can have the kind of death they would like. Even our restrictive law for medical aid in dying is only available in ten states and D.C. and that is 27 years after the Supreme Court ruled that this important matter is up to the states to decide.

The result is that some people choose a violent way to end their lives, those with means get help in Switzerland, and many choose to go without food and fluids and die in two weeks. Is this how life should end in a civilized country?

Faye Girsh, EdD
Founder, Hemlock Society of San Diego