Should I kill myself or buy a t-shirt?

First CA suicide clinic opens in Berkeley.

Should I kill myself or buy a t-shirt? This is the question some visitors to Berkeley might have as they visit the college town just east of Oakland. The reason is that California's "right to die" law goes into effect today and along with it, the first clinic specializing in physician assisted suicide opens in Berkeley.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The late 60s, live on still in little corners of Berkeley. Music stores still sell records and a lot of CDs, in an age of MP3 downloads. Ethnic cuisine is everywhere, and smoke shops sell move varieties of tobacco and pot than you can comprehend. But now, a new shop is opening in Berkeley, one where you can go to kill yourself.

Known as the "End of Life Option Act," Californians may now take poison that will kill them, prescribed by a doctor. California is the fifth state to pass a law supporting physician assisted suicide.

The law requires that patients be terminally ill with less than six months to live, that they purchase the life-ending poisons, and ingest them orally themselves. They must also be mentally competent. Physicians prescribe the drugs, but are under no obligation to do so or even to discuss the practice with patients.

Of course, killing a patient deliberately is considered harm, so such a practice violates the Hippocratic Oath, but in today's relativistic age, no oath is sacred anymore.

Instead, in our brave new world, suffering is to be shunned, dependency is to be feared, and to be a burden is tantamount to a crime.

In Catholic teaching, these considerations do not warrant the taking of a life, even one's own. It is understood that the end of life is a difficult time in which people gradually lose the ability to care for themselves. Sickness doss the same thing. Suffering, both physical and mental are part of the process. While regrettable, these are also times in which a person can prepare themselves for their transition into death and can share in the sacrifices of Jesus Christ.

It is up to God to specify when a person dies. That process may be unpleasant, but God in his infinite wisdom has His way. We must have patience and faith. The end of life, especially if it comes slowly, is a time for reflection, prayer and preparation. In its own way, it is a gift from God, and we should not toss it away without appreciating it for what it truly is.

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