“Live and let live” is a principle of democracy that most people accept. We embrace this principle because living is as much an experiment as it is a right. People need and want freedom to express themselves and grow as individuals, even as they participate in a greater community beyond family.

But should the same principle apply when a person is dying? Unlike living, dying is final. It’s not an experiment from which one can have a change of heart. So, any discussion and proposed law about end-of-life issues should actually concern us more than our living ones.

It is this issue that has me opposed to Maine’s “death with dignity” law in the first place, and the recently proposed amendment to it, LD 613, whereby the waiting period is removed. Assuming life is precious and no one knows what lies beyond the grave, with no second chance to find out, it makes no sense to rush the process.

I have observed the death of two wives, both under hospice care. Neither wife asked for her death to be hastened, and both died naturally. But it was I, in several weak moments of perverse compassion, who wanted to rush them into eternity to ease my own suffering. This is a factor that leaves motive very much in play.

Therefore, LD 613 ought not to pass. A peaceful, dignified death is possible under competent hospice care.

Mark Wood
Poland