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Belatedly I will comment on the failure to pass legislation allowing medically-assisted aid in dying in CT. I see that opposition to this measure springs from genuine concern that a profit-driven health system could push uninsured or poor people toward suicide. In fact I don’t know of any legal measure that rules out all possible forms of abuse. Nevertheless I strongly support having assisted suicide as an option. This is because I have seen a number of cases where it is not allowed, producing horrific results. To me, being removed from life prematurely and so ending suffering is better than being compelled to live in suffering simply because other people think life at any cost is a good idea. If you knew how difficult it is to commit suicide on your own, the lack of reliable and obtainable medications, the fear, the logistical problems that can result in damaging yourself without producing death, or leave you at the mercy of a health system that considers suicide a manifestation of mental illness and is happy to lock you up to prevent it …. I know people who were obliged to lie down in front a train, or shoot themselves and a friend to get out of an impossible situation, or suffered for months seeing their mental faculties drain away with a terminal brain tumor so they were no longer themselves, or lose their homes and all meaning in their lives because they could no longer manage on their own outside a supervised medical setting. I see that there is more than one way for the medical system to tyrannize over our lives and inflict unnecessary emotional and physical pain. I wish we were living in a culture where suicide is a respected option and permitted choice. I think it gives people more control over their lives and the quality of their lives.