Cathy Ludlum’s Outstanding Letter Published In the Hartford Courant

Assisted suicide does not increase personal choice

We at the grassroots disability organization Second Thoughts Connecticut object to a sentence in a recent story [Dec. 14, courant.com, “Former state GOP chairman takes job as Connecticut Catholic Church lobbyist“].

The sentence reads: “Culhane also lobbied successfully against other bills the church opposed, including repeated attempts over the past few years to pass legislation that would have allowed terminally ill patients to seek a doctor’s help in ending their lives.”

There are many reasons to oppose assisted suicide, and most of them have nothing to do with religion.

The repeated defeat of these proposals came about because members of the disability and medical communities approached legislators with practical concerns. These include the likelihood of abuse or coercion, misdiagnosis or wrong diagnosis. There is also clear evidence that wherever assisted suicide becomes law, it gets harder for patients to receive life-saving procedures — because death will always be the most cost-effective treatment.

Perpetuating the stereotype that most opposition comes from the religious community not only does a disservice to all of us who have spent years fighting assisted suicide. It distorts the issue.

Instead, we should be educating the public about the many ways assisted suicide does not increase personal choice. Quite the contrary.

Cathy Ludlum, Manchester