NY Medical Aid-in-Dying

Gov. Hochul is deciding what to do about various things on her desk as the year is coming to an end. She has had a heavy veto pen in the past. 

I think the executive veto is used too much. One person gets to make a policy decision that overrides the legislature.

Anyway, she decided to sign the aid-in-dying legislation. She negotiated a few more safeguards. It only applies to someone found to only have six months to live. She explains why here. One notable thing is that she is Catholic, but nothing new there. See, e.g., Mario Cuomo and abortion.

I think the decision here is part of the right to privacy. Many things of that nature have line drawing issues, and it is appropriate for the legislature to have some discretion. Drugs in general have that flavor.

If anything, I think six months might be too tight a schedule, though there are other things you can do. You still have the right to refuse treatment. You can take drugs to deal with pain, and a lethal overdose is far from impossible. There is self-help.

But I think this is an appropriate move. If I ever have to face up to this issue, I would like the option. 

Abortion Thoughts 

Of course, the thing many will think about here is abortion. The other side of life. The subject came up in a discussion involving executive removal power (this provides a better take on that subject). 

I talked about it in comments. Someone with quite different beliefs challenged my good faith. I was "pretending" and "just had to" use a certain term. I responded in detail, including noting the term was used in Roe v. Wade. "Life," for instance, is a complicated term, dropping a link. 

The person didn't substantially respond. They just doubled down, tossing other usual concerns of that side. I find that tedious. It's not too uncommon online. People think certain things are obvious. If you don't agree, you are not arguing in good faith or are stupid.

Sometimes, people are not arguing in good faith. Or, at least, they are not arguing with a reasoned and informed take. People are not just Vulcans or rhetoricians who carefully make arguments. It makes engaging with some people again a tad bit tedious.

(On that website, I block the names of some people, including someone I tiresomely engaged with for around fifteen years. At some point, it's pointless, and it just annoys me. I'm no Stoic. I can't just ignore it.)

I'm not going to change people's minds, generally speaking. I do hope that sometimes people will respect that I'm trying to argue in good faith. Sometimes, they will acknowledge some lesser point, and not just see everything as a black/white issue with no shades. 

Sometimes, I just like to give my .02, and maybe someone else will find something I say of some usefulness at times. Some subjects, and abortion is one, have interested me for a long time.

I'm not pretending by saying that.