BoomerVille: Help Should Be on the Way for Assisted Suicide

 Suicide remains a controversial subject in America. As it should be. This is life and the possibility of death. Some moderators on social media might delete postings about it and/or transmit information about sources for help.

In tarot readings, of course, I manage the issue with great care. I was honored to direct a man with a severe drinking problem and a plan for ending his life to a 12-step program. 

Meanwhile, I resonate with Boomers - we were the generation to overthrow our mothers and liberate sexuality - talking about suicide for themselves. That's right down to the methodology. One told me about possibly drowning. I advised against that. When five years of age I kept going under before being rescued. The experience was horrific.

The oldest of the Boomers is 80 years old. 

For some, the issue has come to this: Not if but when. When there is "enough" cognitive and physical decline there's the hope that we're still in adequate control to pass over to the whatever.

The scary part is two-fold: 

How to avoid pain, and

How to ensure total effectiveness. One tarot client lamented how a Boomer acquaintance jumped off a cliff and suffered extensive brain damage. He had a master degree in management from Yale.

Assisted suicide could solve both concerns. Influential The Economist brings good news on that front. It reports that more than half of Americans now believe that assisted suicide is okay morally. The state of New York is expected to approve that, following 12 other states plus DC which already have.

The tough nut to crack, though, remains the criteria for approval. Unlike nations such as Switzerland and Belgium, wanting an out from a deteriorating quality of life is still not acceptable in America. To ensure a painless safe passage most of us would have to have the resources to journey to a location such as Switzerland. In 2018, that's what brandname scientist David Goodall, 104, did. 

The fee for that runs five figures. That's less we can leave behind to good causes such as Animal Rescue (my assets are going to the Toledo Humane Society), family/friends needing a fresh start and loyal employees. Of course, some may not have it.

Also, by that time we probably have to scout up a caretaker to escort us there - and put up with their chatter. Another of our firsts was not buying into Americana gregariousness. In the final days I want to be alone with my inner life. 

Plus, consider all the resources we would be consuming being kept alive. Those are not only funds. They also include the human outreach. In 1980, I watched my father, who had a very strong heart, go down to 70 pounds with cancer. So many lives were disrupted. There was no option to offer him from the pain and, yes, shame. His heart beat on.

We need the lawyers on this one. Both in litigation and lobbying. This should be pro-bono job number-one. 

For no compensation Jones Day went to bat successfully to the US Supreme Court to reverse the conviction sentence for Bridget Kelly in Bridgegate. So many watchers of that whole initial legal play-out knew how unfair the judgment and the sentence had been. 

Paul, Weiss led the civil rights battle on behalf of the disabled to have a choice between being placed in for-profit facilities and opting for the resources available in integrated supportive housing.

Quinn Emanuel won a $392,595.15 judgment for a garment worker who had labored for about two dollars an hour.

As of now there are 71 million of the original 76 million Boomers still alive. With lawyer intervention we could be the generation to restore control to what a life is. Not be doomed to linger in a bed in a diaper, possible bed sores and convinced the dashing John F. Kennedy is US President.

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