Faye Girsh

About the author: Faye Girsh is executive director of the Hemlock Society USA, a right-todie organization based in Denver, Colorado.

There is more interest than ever before in the right of terminally ill patients to end their own lives. Medical science has come a long way in eradicating diseases that kill, so more people are living longer and are not dying suddenly. Therefore, patients are often in great pain and discomfort. For this reason they need to have the option to hasten their own death.

While Americans consider themselves free to live the lives they choose, most don't realize that this freedom ends when it comes to selecting a peaceful death over a life filled with unbearable pain and suffering. Euthanasia advocate Jack Kevorkian's conviction of second-degree murder for assisting...