There really is no governmental intrusion into your decision to die, other than statutes that may make suicide illegal which are difficult to prosecute post mortem, the government instead makes it illegal for some else to assist you. While this may seem to be a distinction without a difference what the law does is regulate other people. It is what got Kevorkian in jail for many years. Of course the difficulty is that by the time you'd want someone to assist you with dying, you may be too incapacitated to kill yourself. I'd agree that the laws need revision as we can't all travel to Oregon or the Netherlands. Hospice is a wonderful option, but to ask the obvious question.. If we as a society have established by law and even with Medicare coverage, that a person at the end of life can either in home or at a facility get high dose pain relief which may accelerate death slightly and provide pain control then why can't we allow any doctor to accelerate death under the same circumstances without the Hospice process in accordance with a living will
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