Like many college students, Rutgers University sophomore Arielle Kafker recently took a trip to the mall. But her visit had nothing to do with shopping.
Instead, the Metuchen resident was there to educate shoppers about the state’s Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act, which is awaiting a full vote by the New Jersey Senate. The legislation would allow mentally competent patients with terminal illnesses to end their lives with self-administered medication.
After learning about the issue at school, Kafker, a political science major, saw it as a worthy cause. “I decided it was something I wanted to dedicate time to,” she said. “I’ve been doing it at school for the majority of the semester.”
Kafker took her efforts a step further by foraying off campus to the Woodbridge Center Mall.
Accompanying Kafker was fellow advocate Ethan Andersen of New Brunswick — who graduated from Rutgers in May and now works full-time for Compassion & Choices, a nationwide nonprofit that seeks to improve patient rights and choices at the end of life.
“I chose to advocate for death-withdignity legislation because I believe access to aid in dying is a fundamental human right,” Andersen said. “Through my volunteer work and my grandmother’s recent passing, I know that there are people out there who want another option when facing a terminal illness.”
Kafker said responses have varied with the location at which she is advocating.
“It’s been different at school versus at a public mall,” Kafker said. “The most common thing I get when people don’t want to support it is religious justification. I’m respectful of that; I realize it’s a very controversial issue.”
According to Evan Nison, field director for Compassion & Choices, the legislation’s core purpose is simple.
“It comes down to personal experience, compassion and human values,” he said. “Those … transcend political lines.”
Nison said there is support for the act on both sides of the aisle. The caveats of the law would be that two doctors must certify that the patient has only six months left to live.
“I think just having an option is really important,” Kafker said. “One of the things that really struck me was patients saying they felt so out of control. … What a lot of them said was that having an option of how to peacefully end their life made them feel much more empowered and in control.”
The issue came to the national forefront in November 2014 when 29-year-old Brittany Maynard, who had terminal brain cancer, ended her life with prescribed medication. Maynard had moved from California to Oregon, which had adopted the Death with Dignity Act in 1994.
Washington and Vermont also have laws allowing patients to take medication to end their lives, according to the Death with Dignity National Center. The California Senate recently passed a similar law, and other states are considering the legislation.
“It’s gone very well,” Nison said of states where the law has been enacted. “We know that it’s properly crafted to avoid any unintended effects, and works well.”
In New Jersey, the Assembly passed the bill last November, and it was approved by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee in December. A full Senate vote is expected in the coming months.
A February Rutgers-Eagleton Poll showed that 63 percent of New Jersey voters support a person’s right to the option of aid in dying.
“Aid in dying is important to me because so many of us have seen loved ones suffer,” Kafker said. “Everyone deserves to make their own health care decisions at the end of life.”