Fnal Injustice

 

They served the nation on distant and often hostile shores, putting their bodies and minds in harm’s way for their country.

Now, in the twilight of their lives, the residents of Napa County’s Yountville Veterans Home are asking for the option  to end their lives if they are terminally ill, in peace, at home, in their own bed.

The 625 residents and their spouses are denied access to the state’s aid-in-dying law.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/10/24/californias-veterans-forced-to-leave-homes-to-seek-aid-in-dying/?

 Life-ending medication is also off-limits to the other 2,000 aging and disabled veterans and spouses at the state’s facilities in Fresno, Barstow, Redding and other cities. That’s because California’s End of Life Option Act conflicts with federal law – so the state’s veterans agency bans it, fearing the loss of millions of dollars in federal funding.

 “I’ve watched three of my friends die here, who were in pain and suffering. It’s unacceptable,” said Jim Thomas, 86, a decorated Vietnam War-era U.S. Air Force officer and pilot who lives with his wife, Jensena, 80, at Napa County’s Yountville Veterans Home, the oldest and largest residential setting for vets in the nation.

California’s Department of Veterans Affairs, known as CalVet, issued an emergency regulation stating that any terminally ill resident intending to take the drug “shall discharge from the Veterans Home.” If a veteran changes their mind, they could be readmitted, it says.

The problem, according to CalVet officials, is that the state’s law conflicts with federal law. They say the agency could lose funding if it violates the 1997 Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act, which prohibits money from being used “to pay for items and services (including assistance) the purpose of which is to cause (or assist in causing) the suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of any individual.”

Like California, Colorado and Vermont require residents of veteran homes to leave the facilities if they wish to end their lives, according to Kaiser Health News. In Washington, veterans can stay if the facility allows it, according to Judy Kinney of End of Life Washington.

A little Draconian, I think. An amendment to the 1997 law seems overdue. There's no good reason to punish veterans in this manner.


 

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