Death with Dignity - Our Survey Results

​By: Dan Roberts/Publisher
 
“I told you so.” Those were the words from The Vegas Voice political editor concerning our recent survey.
 
To recap: Rana wanted The Vegas Voice to support and lobby the 2019 Nevada Legislature in passing a “Death with Dignity” law. Simply put, such a law would allow a person to end his/her life when their medical condition (as determined by two physicians) is such that they have less than six months to live. 

We were advised that a recent poll indicated that Nevadans favored such a law by a 70-30% majority. Of course that clear majority was good enough for the “Guardian Gladiator”, but I told her that for The Vegas Voice to commit to such lobbying efforts, I required more.    
 
I imposed three conditions that had to be in place before Don(na) Quixote tackled those windmills – and elected officials.
  1. The Vegas Voice had to receive 500 responses, be it by mail or email.
  2. The ratio for Death with Dignity had to be 75-25% for such a law in Nevada.
  3. All responses had to be received at the end of 2 months – Labor Day weekend.
 
She met those conditions (hence her opening sentence) but even she was surprised by the percentages. As of the end of August, our survey showed 95-5% FOR such a law. To say that we were shocked by the survey percentages would be an understatement.
 
Yes, I recognize that the survey was unscientific but… 95%?
 
We also received numerous comments regarding reader’s beliefs. Basically it came down to two reasons opposed to such a law and two for its implementation.
 
OPPOSED
1. Only God has the right to decide when a person should die.
2. If such a law was passed, it would create a “slippery slope” and who knows what the government would eventually do down the road.
 
FOR
1. We treat our pets with more compassion and respect that we do for our loved ones.
2. Their personal experiences in watching/dealing with the passing of a spouse, parent or child, and that no loved one should suffer just to die.
 
As you can only expect from my Rana, she has very strong beliefs in this issue. I, along with our other Vegas Voice family members have their sad episodes as well.