We all have to die, but not everyone gets a good death. If there even is such a thing, it’s all up to interpretation. Some would call dying bravely in battle the best ‘good death,’ or religious martyrdom, or a death that somehow furthers an important cause. Others may prefer dying in their sleep, never feeling pain or even knowing they were sick.

Underlying it all are the unsaid words that will never be heard by the deceased, the amends that will never be made, the love that will never be expressed. Death, at least the kind that hits us mere mortals, is as final as anything that happens on this side of heaven. Far better to hash out any unresolved issues with your loved ones before they die, because when they do, it will be too late. One minute, there are limitless chances, the next, there are none.

Dying in a bed, even a hospital one, surrounded by a loving and adoring family who had enough time to express their love and properly say goodbye is my idea of as good a death as could be had by anyone, and that’s exactly what happened to my incredible father last week. …

What happened to countless families who suffered during that time is unforgivable. The husband of 60 years who sat outside his wife’s hospital window holding signs of love and watching her die, the mother who was kept away from her sick teenage son, unable to hold his hand or say goodbye as he died, the family of a man in his 40s who could only speak to him via phone as he passed, the pregnant woman who lost her baby and almost died herself who had to endure it all alone, and countless more.

I was angry about hearing stories like this at the time, but after my recent experience, they hit even harder now. What kind of monsters would allow such horrors in the name of ‘safety?’

In the end, we all die alone. But I have to think that passing to the other side surrounded by those he loved had to have been comforting both for us and for my father. Not every death can be like that, obviously, but when they can it should be encouraged, not hindered.

The fact that people in power purposefully prevented this basic human right based on nonsense and pseudoscience that turned out to be completely false will always be a stain on our history, and it should be a stain on their careers.