"As long as it's their own decision."
This is exactly the point. A person can refuse treatment, but in most places cannot legally access what would enable them to die without excess pain.
Fortunately, neither my mother or my husband had significant pain. If they had, I and they would have wanted to be able to make the decision to end it at a time of their own choosing.
I don't think it's smart to allow government into the killing business, and that's what assisted suicide is. With abortion legal, we don't currently see this, but ideally a society should respect and protect the life of each of it's members. Killing children within the womb of their mother or killing elderly or sick people is certainly not respecting, let alone protecting the life of each member in a society. Human suffering is such a tragic part of life, and each person has his/her share it to some degree, some more than others. It's natural human instinct to want to alleviate that suffering as much as possible, sometimes in any way possible. The question is, how far does society go to do that? I would argue that doctors should continue to work for and provide cures to ailments and pain medication for variant degrees of pain. People can choose to decline extraodinary means such as surgeries, respirators, or have DNRs. People may also decide that certain medications which may take days or weeks off of life are necessary for comfort. However, other means such as denying food or water, a basic human necessity (which helps to keep one comfortable) or actual medications or injections to terminate one's life is taking measures too far. Some may argue it is dignified not to suffer a miserable death, but if we say that suffering in some way makes us undignified, we would have to claim that each person on this Earth is undignified which is blatantly untrue. The goal of doctors and society should be to recognize the inherent value in human life and preserve it, not take it.
We must turn towards societies that have permitted assisted suicide, and realize that assisted suicides have increased in Oregon, the only state where they are permissible. In Dutch countries, they have proceeded to euthanasia, which is very dangerous. It's been said that people have been euthanized that were unable to give consent or had families that either were not around or chose to give consent. Babies that are ill or deformed also recieve the euthansia "treatment" as it is deemed "humane". Things get progressively worse as Switzerland attempts to open the door to assisted suicide for those who are mentally ill or depressed. More and more people may feel the need to end their lives, those that are depressed, pressured by doctors, or feel they are alleiving their family of a "burden". The bottom line, it's a dangerous road to go down. Who knows what damage will befall before we can turn back?
We as humans don't have the power to take the lives of other humans. Only God and nature can do that. Humans aren't animals, and we must cotinue to promote the sanctity of human life in our society.
...and you'll find those on FR who will claim that "The Disabled" are against having assistance in managing their own future, as if there were not MANY people with disabilities who are too aware of how easily their wishes can be ignored, especially when they are unable to fight back themselves. That's why many people who are disabled are very strongly in favor of being able to obtain physician assistance in ending their life with peace and dignity.
Unfortunately, experience has shown that many people find that by the time they wish to go, it's too late for them to do so without help. That is, many able-bodied people become disabled by progressive illness before dying and never realize til too late that they suffer the same vulnerability as the life-long disabled person. The alternative to providing assistance is to force people to prematurely off themselves while they still know they can.*
The key is to leave the decision in the patients' hands. What is so wrong with that? There's no danger of misuse, if the PRIMARY focus is on the patients' desires, not on life versus death.
I'm sorry for your losses, but am so glad that you found the assistance to ease things.
*I sometimes wonder if the anti-PAS crowd is a bunch of sadistic ghouls who enjoy forcing pain and early death upon those who suffer.
It is exactly your kind of thinking which will promote the use of assisted suicide against a person's will.