“A good death”

That’s all some people are asking for:

Dr. Richard Wesley has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the incurable disease that lays waste to muscles while leaving the mind intact. He lives with the knowledge that an untimely death is chasing him down, but takes solace in knowing that he can decide exactly when, where and how he will die.

Under Washington State’s Death With Dignity Act, his physician has given him a prescription for a lethal dose of barbiturates. He would prefer to die naturally, but if dying becomes protracted and difficult, he plans to take the drugs and die peacefully within minutes.

“It’s like the definition of pornography,” Dr. Wesley, 67, said at his home here in Seattle, with Mount Rainier in the distance. “I’ll know it’s time to go when I see it.”

Dr. Steven Kirtland, who has been Dr. Wesley’s pulmonologist for three years, said he had little hesitation about agreeing to Dr. Wesley’s request, the only prescription for the drugs that Dr. Kirtland has written.

“I’ve seen a lot of bad deaths,” Dr. Kirtland said. “Part of our job as physicians is to help people have a good death, and, frankly, we need to do more of that.”

Why is this so difficult for many Americans to understand?