Oregon's Death with Dignity

In the June 1, 2004 NY Times article "In Oregon, Choosing Death Over Suffering," Dr. Kenneth Stevens says of those who choose to die by their own hand when they have a terminal illness: "The 'P' word is not 'pain.' The 'P' word is 'pride'... Rather than being death with dignity, it's death with vanity."

I think it would be instructive to step back and examine that statement by considering who really has more vanity: he who believes he knows best how a terminally ill patient should die, and would seek to control that choice by law, or the terminally ill patient who wishes to decide only for himself.