Aid-in-dying combines empathy and mercy

I was disappointed to see The Courant’s Feb. 28 article that seemed to present a bias against aid-in-dying . I strongly agree with Deborah Howland-Murray’s view as stated in her op-ed piece on aid-in-dying .

Growing up, my parents made it very clear to my siblings and I that they did not want to be “kept alive by machines.” That was their way of expressing that they wished for aid-in-dying should they have a health crisis that was inevitably fatal and would cause prolonged suffering. As the youngest in their large families, they (and I) watched family members suffer through various cancers and debilitating strokes. But many of their relatives had never had that conversation with their own children. I also was raised Catholic, and we were informed by the Church that any such intervention would be a sin.

I lost my parents in 1994 (my mom to a stroke) and 2002 (my dad from cancer). Much responsibility fell on me to make decisions. We were able to honor my parents’ wishes, and I am so grateful for my parents’ doctors and the hospice care they received. My brothers and I knew, without any doubt, what our parents would have wanted.

This is a hard email to write because I was only in my 20s and 30s when I lost my parents. I so wish I could talk with them again. We never know what a day will bring. But one thing I am absolutely certain of is that we did the right thing by allowing our parents to die peacefully.

I have had the same conversation with my own children regarding myself, any terminal illness I may face, and that I die on my own terms if at all possible. I hope I’m alive and able to be as active as possible for many years, but I now suffer from chronic illnesses. I do not know what a day will bring.

Please, I implore you, support SB 1076. That bill represents mercy, empathy, love and the most basic dignity.

Barb Kapustynski, Norwalk