Veteran With Terminal Brain Cancer Explains Why He’s Against Assisted Suicide

Kelsey Bolar / October 04, 2016

The D.C. City Council will vote on a highly controversial bill on Wednesday that will determine whether residents in the nation’s capital should be allowed to take their own lives by assisted suicide. The bill, modeled after Oregon’s assisted suicide law, would allow terminally ill patients with less than six months to live to obtain a life-ending drug to be ingested at home.

Supporters of the legislation argue that allowing terminally ill patients to end their suffering is a form of compassion or death with dignity, and that no one has to participate in the practice if they don’t choose. Those against it say assisted suicide devalues human life, and can lead to dangerous consequences.

In order to move forward, the bill must first pass the five-member Committee on Health and Human Services, which is currently divided on the issue. Advocates on both sides of the debate have been active in Washington, D.C., lobbying City Council members and the public at large.

Last week, The Daily Signal caught up with J.J. Hanson, president of the Patients’ Rights Action Fund. In 2014, Hanson was diagnosed with a terminal form of brain cancer, and was given four months to live. Now, two and a half years later, Hanson is alive, sharing his story, and why he now advocates against assisted suicide.