{"id":289,"date":"2015-10-09T10:38:16","date_gmt":"2015-10-09T14:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/protestprotest\/?p=289"},"modified":"2015-10-09T10:38:16","modified_gmt":"2015-10-09T14:38:16","slug":"i-thought-this-was-the-land-of-the-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/protestprotest\/2015\/10\/i-thought-this-was-the-land-of-the-free\/","title":{"rendered":"I Thought This Was the Land of the Free"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Imagine my surprise when I learned that California\u2019s new law that makes physician-assisted suicide legal actually has restrictions.<\/p>\n

The reason for the surprise comes from the high bar set by Justice Anthony Kennedy who in Planned Parenthood v. Casey opened wide the gates of liberty. Among the broad assertions<\/a> of freedom were these:<\/p>\n

It is a rational continuum which, broadly speaking, includes a freedom from all substantial arbitrary impositions and purposeless restraints. . . <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

or<\/p>\n

At the heart of liberty is the right to define one\u2019s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Beliefs about these matters could not define the attributes of personhood were they formed under compulsion of the State.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Consider the case of Caitlyn Jenner. She cannot not create a new gender identity without following the procedures of the medical establishment<\/a>. For instance, before Caitlin can go all the way with \u201cgender assignment surgery\u201d (why does this sound like prose produced by HAL from 2001 A Space Odyssey?), she needs to produce:<\/p>\n

Documentation that the individual has completed a minimum of 12 months of successful continuous full time real-life experience in their new gender, across a wide range of life experiences and events that may occur throughout the year (for example, family events, holidays, vacations, season-specific work or school experiences). This includes coming out to partners, family, friends, and community members (for example, at school, work, and other settings).<\/p>\n

Note:
\nThe medical documentation should include the start date of living full time in the new gender.
\nVerification via communication with individuals who have related to the individual in an identity-congruent gender role, or requesting documentation of a legal name change, may be reasonable in some cases;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s harder to change gender than obtain a gun. No peace, no justice.<\/p>\n

Now comes word that California is putting restrictions on taking your own life (in consultation with your physician). Alan Jacobs notices that California requires an illness to rise to a certain threshold and wonders<\/a> if it is a tad arbitrary:<\/p>\n

The law opens the choice of physician-assisted suicide to persons with a \u201cterminal disease,\u201d and defines \u201cterminal disease\u201d as \u201can incurable and irreversible disease that has been medically confirmed and will, within reasonable medical judgment, result in death within six months.\u201d Surely someone will say, \u201cWhy six months? Why not a year \u2014 or more \u2014 if \u2018reasonable medical judgment\u2019 concludes that death is overwhelmingly likely?\u201d That is, there\u2019s an arbitrariness in the choice of six months as the (pardon the term) deadline for this choice which makes it likely that there will soon be pressure to extend it.<\/p>\n

Moreover, there\u2019s a great deal of wiggle room in the phrase \u201creasonable medical judgment.\u201d One doctor may deem a disease fatal that another finds eminently treatable; and even when fatality is for all intents and purposes certain, people often surprise their doctors. Some cancer patients have lived far beyond the utmost time predicted for them; others die much more quickly than expected. (My father was one of the latter.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Notice too how much power the medical profession has in all of these matters. And here we thought two weeks ago that Pope Francis was the man with all the authority. <\/p>\n

The lesson appears to be that freedom has limits. Even legislators pursuing bad policy recognize it. So why don\u2019t judges? <\/p>\n

Image<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine my surprise when I learned that California\u2019s new law that makes physician-assisted suicide legal actually has restrictions. The reason for the surprise comes from the high bar set by Justice Anthony Kennedy who in Planned Parenthood v. Casey opened wide the gates of liberty. Among the broad assertions of freedom were these: It is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2170,"featured_media":290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[276],"tags":[257,314,315,313,312],"class_list":["post-289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-politics","tag-caitlyn-jenner","tag-checks-and-balances","tag-civil-liberty","tag-physician-assisted-suicide","tag-sex-change-operations"],"yoast_head":"\nI Thought This Was the Land of the Free<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Imagine my surprise when I learned that California's new law that makes physician-assisted suicide legal actually has restrictions. 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