A Poignant and Balanced Look
at
the Difficult Issue of Physician-Assisted Suicide
Ask the average American what they know
about physician-assisted suicide and they are likely to
answer with the name of a single person - Jack Kevorkian,
a former pathologist who helped 120 individuals die before
he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for second degree
murder.
But in reality, physician-assisted suicide,
illegal in 49 of the 50 states, is being secretly practiced
by physicians all over the country. Since physician-assisted
suicide is already being practiced covertly, is it time
to follow Oregon's lead and make it legal? Or would this
be a dangerous change in public policy that would threaten
the poor, the disabled and other vulnerable groups? Would
it promote better end-of-life care? Or would it encourage
HMOs and other health care providers to take the less
costly way out? These are some of the provocative questions
explored in Final Choice: America Struggles with the
Right to Die.
Final Choice begins at the bedside
of a terminally ill patient who wants to die and asks
his doctor to help him commit suicide. His doctor refuses,
explaining that he would like to grant his request, but
the laws of the state forbid it. As the story unfolds,
we hear from an array of articulate individuals—some of
whom support physician-assisted suicide and some who oppose
it. The result is a poignant and balanced look at an issue
which all of us will eventually need to consider-both
in our personal lives and at the ballot box.
The narrator of Final Choice is
stage, screen and television actress Rita Moreno. The
Commonwealth
Club of California, a nonpartisan public affairs forum,
produced this film as part of its long-established tradition
of promoting thoughtful discussion of important public
issues. Established in 1903, the Commonwealth Club is
the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum.
Underwriting for the program was provided
by the Columbia Foundation, the Compton
Foundation, the Wallace
Alexander Gerbode Foundation and the Walter and Elise
Haas Fund.
Final Choice: America Struggles with
the Right to Die is presented by KQED, San Francisco.
KQED Inc. operates KQED TV9, the nation's most-watched
public television station in prime-time; KQED 88.5 FM,
one of the most-listened-to public radio stations in the
nation; and the KQED Education Network (EdNet), which
brings the impact of KQED to thousands of teachers, students,
parents and media professionals through workshops, seminars
and the Internet.
Final Choice is distributed to
public television stations nationwide by American Public
Television. (Check local listings.)
