JOHN YANG: New York has become the# 13th state, along with Washington,## D.C., to legalize medically assisted# suicide.

More than a dozen other states## are also considering legalizing the practice,# what supporters call medical aid in dying.

Stephanie Sy traveled to both coasts to# reexamine an issue that for decades has## divided Americans along moral and political lines.

DEL DELASHMUTT, Portland, Oregon, Resident: I# have a brain tumor in my right frontal lobe.

STEPHANIE SY: Del DeLashmutt envisions# a celebration for the day he dies.

DEL DELASHMUTT: We're going to have a fire going# that day.

I have my little guitar over there and## pick it up and strum it a little bit.

My sister's# going to be here.

My son's going to be here.

There## will be people here.

And I don't want it to be# a sad day.

I just want it to be a day, you know?

STEPHANIE SY: The Portland, Oregon,## resident says he's planning to take a# lethal dose .. Why did you choose April 1?

DEL DELASHMUTT: April 1.

No greater fool am# I, says I. So I thought that would be perfect.

STEPHANIE SY: He was diagnosed with stage four# prostate cancer in 2017.

Now 67 years old,## he's undergone near constant chemotherapy and more## than 50 radiation treatments.

He# had a compelling reason to fight.

DEL DELASHMUTT: I have a granddaughter.# And she was 3 at the time.

STEPHANIE SY: And you have# had almost a decade with her.

DEL DELASHMUTT: Yes.

And I see her every## Wednesday.

So -- and I have# since she was 3 months old.

STEPHANIE SY: But tumors have now# spread to his brain and spine.

And## he's worried they will lead to a grueling death.

DEL DELASHMUTT: It's funny.

Everybody says, you're# so brave.

And it's like, no, I'm being -- I'm## not brave, because, if I was brave, I would die# painfully.

So I would rather not die painfully.

STEPHANIE SY: DeLashmutt meets the requirements# of Oregon's death with dignity law.

Since 1997,## the option has been available to adults# who have a medical prognosis of six## months or less to live from at least two# doctors and are deemed mentally competent.## They must also be able to# take the drugs themselves.

DR.

CHARLES BLANKE, Oregon Health and Science# University: Remember, there's no pressure to ever## take the medication.

Totally your choice.

STEPHANIE SY: Dr.

Charles Blanke wrote the## prescription for DeLashmutt.

Blanke was one of# the first physicians in the U.S.

to practice## medical aid in dying.

An oncologist# by training, he says demand has grown.

DR.

CHARLES BLANKE: More and more# of my patients seem to want this## option.

And I probably write between# 100 and 150 prescriptions per year.

STEPHANIE SY: Acceptance for# legalizing what's also known## as medically assisted suicide has been# rising steadily in the U.S.

Polling in## recent years has shown that more than# 70 percent of Americans support it.

ANITA HANNIG, Author, "The Day I Die: The Untold# Story of Assisted Dying in America": The idea of## authoring the end of your own life# is becomin.. STEPHANIE SY: Anita Hannig is a# cultural anthropologist and the## author of "The Day I Die: The Untold# Story of Assisted Dying in America."

ANITA HANNIG: Medical aid in dying is actually# increasingly being seen as a medical treatment## that some -- and we're talking about a very# small subset of the population -- choose to## avail themselves of when they reach the end of# their life and they have a terminal condition.

STEPHANIE SY: Since Oregon became the first state# to allow assisted dying nearly 30 years ago,## 12 more states and Washington, D.C., have passed# similar laws.

Roughly 13,000 Americans have used## medical aid in dying, according to# a nonprofit that tracks this data.

GOV.

KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): Who am# I to deny you or your loved one## what they're begging for at the end of their life?

STEPHANIE SY: New York just# approved legalization last month,## reigniting opposition from longtime# opponents, including the Catholic Church.

FATHER PETER CLARK, St.

Joseph's University:# So, since the beginning of Christianity,## it was very clear that God gives# life, only God can take life away.

STEPHANIE SY: Father Peter Clark is the director# of the Institute of Clinical Bioethics at St.## Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

He says even# the phrase medical aid in dying is misleading.

FATHER PETER CLARK: You're committing suicide.# Medical aid in dying sounds very different.

It## sounds like the doctors are helping you# in the last stages of death and dying,## but the help is intentionally terminating you.

So,## I mean, you can play semantics all# you want.

It's still the same thing.

STEPHANIE SY: But Clark says the Catholic Church## is not against taking someone off of# a ventilator or removing a pacemaker,## and he believes more options could be offered# to make patients suffer less at the end of life.

DANIESE MCMULLIN-POWELL, Disability Rights# Advocate: People are going to die needlessly.

STEPHANIE SY: It's a perspective# that 80-year-old Delaware resident## and disability rights advocate# Daniese McMullin-Powell shares.

DANIESE MCMULLIN-POWELL: I am shocked society is# so accepting of this, and their assumption of what## suffering is by offering you death, instead of# better health care, instead of a better life.

STEPHANIE SY: McMullin-Powell had polio# as a child, which has left her with## long-term disabilities.

She's joined a# lawsuit against the state of Delaware,## which passed a medical aid in dying law last year.

Among other concerns, she fears# that people with disabilities will## cut their lives short to spare their# families the expense of their care.

DANIESE MCMULLIN-POWELL: For them# to have that option puts pressure## on people with disabilities and# makes us feel an obligation to die.

STEPHANIE SY: Opponents of assisted dying also# often point to other countries as a warning,## including Canada, where next year people whose## sole underlying condition is a mental# health disorder will become eligible.

FATHER PETER CLARK: There's a slippery# slope.

I mean, if you allow for this,## what comes next?

I mean, look at the# Netherlands.

Look at Luxembourg.

Look## at Belgium.

Look at Switzerland.

They now# allow people who are mentally ill to do this.

STEPHANIE SY: Oregon has had these laws in place## for decades and they have not# gone down the slippery slope.

FATHER PETER CLARK: Correct, because# -- but that's not to say we can't.

So,## I mean, it may not have happened in Oregon,# but it's -- our closest neighbor, Canada,## is allowing for it.

The church is very# concerned that could come next here.

STEPHANIE SY: Researcher Anita Hannig# doesn't see the U.S.

going down that road.

ANITA HANNIG: Among all the jurisdictions# that have legalized assisted dying,## the U.S.

model is actually the most# restrictive.

And the gains that have## been made in this country are hard-won.

And,# today, I would say very few advocates of these## laws are willing to push the envelope on# them, for fear of losing them altogether.

DR.

CHARLES BLANKE: There have been a whole host# of reasons put forward by opponents to death with## dignity.

They believe that this is harming the# patient.

I feel the situation is the opposite.

STEPHANIE SY: Dr.

Charles Blanke says he sees# people suffering in ways that can't be relieved.

DR.

CHARLES BLANKE: What my# patients want, for the most part,## is control.

They cannot control their life# at all.

They can't control their cancer.## But I can, because of these drugs, offer them# essentially 100 percent control over their death,## pretty much when and certainly how.

And I can# say that it's going to happen without suffering.

STEPHANIE SY: When we met Del DeLashmutt, he was# preparing to pick up his prescription and trying## to make the most of the time he has left.

He took# one last trip to the beach on Oregon's coast,## wrote love letters to the# people he will leave behind.

DEL DELASHMUTT: "And we had so much fun.

We did."

STEPHANIE SY: And pulled out old photos.

Are you scared?

DEL DELASHMUTT: There's a part# of me that's scared.

But there's## a part of me that something profound# is going to happen to me on April 1.

STEPHANIE SY: Is there anything that# would change your mind at this point?

DEL DELASHMUTT: No, no, because I# want to go as me, the guy that can## smile and laugh and joke a little bit,# rather than be a pile of pain, whereas,## this way, there's a good chance# that I may be having a good day.

(LAUGHTER) DEL DELASHMUTT: And they can see me like that.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Stephanie Sy.