California is about to become the fifth state in the U.S. to allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives using doctor-prescribed drugs. For reasons I've mentioned here before, I think this is a good thing. My mother, who died three years ago yesterday, would probably have availed herself of such drugs if her health had gotten any worse without being fatal. She was miserable the last few months and had no hope of getting "better enough" to do anything she wanted to do. All she had ahead was more pain and more hospital stays and more guilt about how much of my time and energy she was consuming. I didn't mind the time and energy but she minded it a lot and it added to her pain. This exit strategy should be available to all.