"If Dr. Stevens had believed in assisted suicide, I would be dead."
November 28, 2012
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-JHpi1rjXLlY8-RsxJ8823qoKw5ASQW3WOAuK6wTYmosK1m199wDd5ytYM2PPJ746ABJ57cO5ws-fTTrXbYjghWPHfoa5AyfYZgMeVUjd153EShWicCDO_RzGssMfDwbaI3zguIm6Imk/s1600/oregon-flag.jpg)
In 1997, I voted for the initiative that legalized assisted suicide in Oregon.
In 2000, I was diagnosed with cancer and told that I had six months to a year to live. I knew that our law had passed, but I didn’t know exactly how to go about doing it. I did not want to suffer, and I did not want to do radiation. I wanted Stevens to help me, but he didn’t really answer me.
Instead, he encouraged me to not give up and ultimately I decided to fight the cancer. I had both chemotherapy and radiation. I am so happy to be alive!
It is now 12 years later. If Stevens had believed in assisted suicide, I would be dead. Assisted suicide should not be legal.
Thank you so much.
Jeanette Hall,
King City, Oregon