In newspapers across the U.S., advocates, patients, medical professionals, and elected leaders are voicing their support for assisted dying. Here are the best letters to the editor published in August 2019:
Maine
“Letter to the editor: Allow Mainers their own end-of-life choices,” Portland Press Herald, 8/13/2019
Our friend and dedicated Maine Death with Dignity volunteer Len Freeman questions the decision by his state’s Christian Civic League to mount an effort to repeal the law. “Do those who oppose a Death with Dignity law really believe that a kind and loving god wants them, or anyone else, to suffer a long, painful, dehumanizing death?” he asks. Allow Mainers the end-of-life choices they want and need.”
Massachusetts
“As I See It: Massachusetts ready to legalize End of Life Options Act,” Worcester Telegram, 8/9/2019
Retired nurse Peggy AM Bacon encourages her fellow Massachusetts residents to support the End of Life Options Act under consideration by state legislators. “This act is about choices,” she writes. This act says, I as a competent adult with a terminal illness have the right to choose how, where and when I die.”
“As I See It: Voters Support End of Life Options Act,” WorcesterTelegram, 8/9/2019
Massachusetts physician Alan Steinbach notes that recent polling shows 70 percent of the state’s voters support the proposed aid-in-dying legislation. “This majority support applies to all age groups, Catholics, Republicans, and disabled voters,” and the Massachusetts Medical Society has adopted a neutral position on the issue.
New Jersey
“The right to die should rest with the terminally ill and their loved ones,” Burlington County Times, 8/25/2019
New Jersey resident Dawn Sheridan penned this letter denouncing the decision by a state judge to put the Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act on hold, leaving dying patients in limbo. (The law was reinstated by the state’s high court earlier this week.) “People should be able to make their own decisions concerning their health and body…and no one, and I mean no one, should be able to tell them that they can or can’t because it does note align with their beliefs, values or thoughts.”
New York
“Letter: Aid in Dying,” Highlands Current, 8/25/2019
New York Assemblymember Sandy Galef explains why she is co-sponsoring the Medical Aid in Dying Act. My hope is that the law would help to grant more power to patients who are trapped in a situation where it is easy to feel powerless.”
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