by Robert C. Horn III

About the author: Robert C. Horn III is professor emeritus of political science at California State University at Northridge. He is the author of How Will They Know When I’m Dead? Transcending Disability and Terminal Illness.

In the national debate on doctor-assisted suicide, we have heard from judges and lawyers, doctors and clergymen, ethicists and editorial writers, politicians and pundits. The one group conspicuously absent so far from the discussion is the one most affected by its outcome: the terminally ill.

The Terminally Ill Deserve Autonomy

Iam one of the terminally ill. In 1988, I was diagnosed as having amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a degenerative neuromuscular disease that swiftly robs the victim of voluntary muscle control...