14 Comments
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John Kuhn's avatar

Joe, I am sure your sister will be missed and the good memories of her comfort you and your siblings in these difficult moments. Sending you strength and prayers for the loss of your sister Madeline.

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Joseph Weber's avatar

John,

Kind of you to take note. I hope all is well.

Best,

JW

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joe's avatar

Great article. Sorry it was occasioned by such a sorrowful loss. “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is a significance.” Delaware recently passed a physician assisted suicide bill. My wife may need it in future. I might too, for that matter. It’s a mitvah.

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Joseph Weber's avatar

Joe, thanks for taking note, though I'm sorry to hear about your wife. MAID has long been an abstraction for many of us, but with the clock ticking, it becomes more real. As for your comment about happenstance, I'm reminded of an old journalism saw: "once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence, three times is a trend." Stay well.

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Seyna Abel's avatar

May Madeline’s memory be a blessing. Great article 💜

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Joseph Weber's avatar

Seyna, it was very kind of you and Roe to come to her funeral. Thanks for taking note of this piece.

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Dennis Misurell's avatar

Sorry to hear of your loss. A very loving and moving tribute.

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Joseph Weber's avatar

Dennis, thanks for taking note.

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Steve Lubetkin's avatar

Joe, sorry for the loss and may your sister’s memory be for blessing. I think MAID is still legal in NJ. We did a couple of interviews about this on the Seekers of Meaning TV Show with Rabbi Richard Address.

https://youtu.be/HpkvZZSmuQg?si=GJU1udFDZAxbA7sl

https://jewishsacredaging.com/som2024030/

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Joseph Weber's avatar

Steve, thx. The hospice nurse my sister worked with refused to permit MAID. Whether it was out of legal uncertainty or difficulty meeting the requirements wasn’t clear (I didn’t want to pry). But a pro-MAID group describes the Jersey situation as under threat.

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Steve Lubetkin's avatar

That's too bad. Looks like some bills to repeal it did not make it out of Committee, so its still legal here. Hospice should have known better.

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Joseph Weber's avatar

Steve, I do wonder about the hospice nurse's procedures here. It appears that such folks are not allowed to refuse MAID, but there are some restrictions that are now under fire. At the same time, there is a demand for repealing the original bill. It seems a bit of a mess. Here's a piece about the argument: https://newjerseymonitor.com/2024/08/28/as-more-terminally-ill-people-use-the-n-j-aid-in-dying-law-calls-grow-for-expanded-access/

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Steve Lubetkin's avatar

Yeah, I was familiar with the complaints about the residency requirement, but I hadn’t realized there was actually some right-wing effort to repeal it. We know the South Jersey doc who runs the MAID practice here (she was interviewed in one of the links I shared). If your family wants to pursue more info, I can make an introduction for you

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Joseph Weber's avatar

Steve, it's moot for my family, but MAID appears to be under assault, with a couple bills in committee that would roll it back, with one repealing the 2019 legislation. See https://deathwithdignity.org/states/new-jersey/. The bills are called A406 and A407.

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