Aid-In-Dying Advocates Once Again Face Uphill Fight In CT

by Donald Eng CTNewsJunkie

HARTFORD, CT — Polly Gugino doesn’t want to die. While that may be a common sentiment, Gugino is also living with stage 4 metastatic cancer and is a staunch advocate of medical aid in dying.

“I’ve endured chemotherapy, radiation, all sorts of drug trials,” she said. “I’ve traveled, sought second opinions and searched for anything that might help.”

Speaking at the State Capitol in support of aid-in-dying legislation, Gugino said she wanted to live as long as she could.

“I want to be here for my family,” she said. “But terminal cancer reshapes your life.”

But Gugino said she also lives in pain, has lost vision in her right eye, and struggles with routine tasks. She fears that her end-of-life situation may mean leaving the state and dying away from home.

“My home is my sanctuary — the place where I feel most myself, most at peace, most surrounded by love,” she said.

Tim Appleton, Connecticut campaign director for the Compassion & Choices Action Network, said legislation legalizing aid in dying has been introduced in Connecticut 20 times since 1994 and had 10 public hearings over the years.

“I’ve lost far too many friends who fought desperately for this change and were only denied,” he said. “Compassion delayed is compassion denied.”

State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg , D-Westport, said the greatest disappointment of his 16 years in the legislature has been his inability to move a bill forward legalizing medical aid in dying.

“I’d love to see us do the right thing for the right reasons: taking care of people who are in the very, very difficult circumstances of their endgame,” he said. “That’s all we’re offering people – control of their own lives at the end.”

Steinberg said there was currently no aid-in-dying bill on the legislative calendar this session, but that there was still time to propose one. He emphasized that such proposals would apply exclusively to those with a terminal diagnosis, with less than six months to live and able to self-administer the required medication.

“We can’t even help people with ALS or MS,” he said. “You have to be able to self administer.”

Deltra James has witnessed the issue firsthand. As a death doula, she provides emotional, physical and educational support to individuals and families during the dying process. She also is living with metastatic cancer, having received a diagnosis of a 12% chance of surviving five years.

“That reality changed my life,” she said. “I walk this path with as much strength and intention as I can.”

She said she hoped to spare her family the trauma of seeing her suffer unnecessarily.

“What I am asking for is tangible patient autonomy,” she said. “I’m not asking to choose death. I’m asking that when death chooses me I am afforded the opportunity to meet it with clarity and peace.”

State Rep. Jillian Gilchrist, D-West Hartford, said she has heard the same message again and again in public hearings.
“People love their lives so much,” she said. “But when it becomes clear that you’re not going to get to live that life anymore, you want to have the option to make the decision of how it ends on your own terms.”

The last time the issue came up in the legislature was 2023, when it failed to get a floor vote for the third consecutive year. The topic generated opposition from various groups, including disability advocates and religious organizations.

The Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference was particularly outspoken on the issue, saying the concept abandoned terminal patients and could devalue human life. Representatives did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the issue Tuesday, but issued a statement opposing the legislation the last time it came before the General Assembly.

“At a time when suicide rates are at record highs, where our mental health needs require action and love, it is sad that some elected leaders continue to support state sponsored suicide,” Chris Healy, the group’s executive director, said. “The answer is to improve end-of-life care in a way that shows true compassion and values every life that God has created.”