February 2024

KMUW reported last month that “Opioid settlement money is meant to fight addiction, but Kansas gives a lot of it to police.” (A story also published by The Newton Kansan)This is harmful.The story explained: “The money is part of national legal settlements against prescription opioid makers, distributors and pharmacies.

For the second year in a row, Florida’s state legislature has an “end of life options” -- or “medical aid in dying” -- bill before it.SB 1642 / HB 561 would “allow” terminally ill patients, diagnosed as having less than six months to live, to “request” (and doctors to prescribe) medication to end their lives “peacefully” instead of waiting for the prognosis to run its course.Although this partial and minimal accommodation of patients’ rights should pass with a veto-proof majority faster than the TV cameras pan to Taylor Swift when Travis Kelce scores a touchdown, it’s probably deader than its beneficiaries will be in, say, six months.Since it’s unlikely to pass, and since nothing I write is likely to change that, I’d like to turn to a simpler question:Why do we tolerate politicians claiming that our lives belong to them and that whether, when, and how those lives end should be their decision rather than ours?Nature (and human nature) preclude, at least for the moment, the choice to live forever.