Tim Tan Huynh

Doctor Who…

  • 4 Nov 2015
  • …supported Death With Dignity has ended his life using the rights and responsibilities outlined by the Oregon law.

I was modifying the layout of my site when I glanced over some of my old posts. One was about Brittany Maynard, a terminally-ill woman who chose to end her life under the Death With Dignity law in Oregon. I remember the story like it’s yesterday, but it’s been almost one year since that event.

Some minutes later, I found a Time.com post about the physician-assisted suicide of Peter Rasmussen, a doctor who was an advocate for this law when it was proposed in the 1990s. The story of Dr Rasmussen, 70, has been under the radar, especially compared to that of Brittany Maynard, who was 29 when she died.

Death and dying is a serious topic; I think it’s the one thing that people shouldn’t make light of, except maybe in rare situations. In principle, I lean toward supporting assisted-suicide, but if I were a lawmaker, I would probably reject most bills that come across my desk—for the best reasons.