To the Editor:
Written the day after Thanksgiving 2015:
Yesterday, Thanksgiving, many people celebrated the holiday grateful for life’s blessings, surrounded by family and friends. Then, there are others – maybe fewer, maybe more – who are grateful for life, but are unable and refuse to appreciate or understand the seclusiveness of that testimonial. Millions of people were suffering from diseases while many were enjoying their feasts.
My life-partner Judi was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer, now under hospice care for 15 days. Yesterday Thanksgiving, Judi was unable to enjoy the company of my daughter, her boyfriend and our Granddog Ellie.
For many years, my life-partner advocated for the right to die. Children with terminal cancer, people whose bodies and minds are failing: she voiced their right to die with dignity, without suffering.
Currently in Massachusetts, the law states we have no choice. The alternative – voluntary starvation – is nearly as excruciatingly painful. The right to die ought to be a birth-right as it is in the Netherlands and Switzerland. In Oregon, Washington, Vermont and California, there is no minimum length-of-residency requirement to take advantage of the right to die.
Americans are free to choose how they live – and when the time comes, how they die. End-of-life choices should be left to the individual, her family and doctor. The choices should be guided by medical standards, not the whims of politicians.
Support for end-of-life choice is consistently strong and has held steady for two decades. Support compassionandchoices.org in Massachusetts. Contact 800-247-7421.
Peace, Love & Happiness,
Doreen Adams – Judi’s life-partner, Mattapoisett
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