Tuesday's Opinion pages contained diverse views on end of life. National Catholic Register's cartoon depicted states' Assisted Suicide Laws as marring "Respect for Life". An early Alzheimer victim wrote of his plans to go to Switzerland to access assisted suicide not available here.
I, now ninety, agree with others oldsters who do not fear death; we fear dying. We live in a medical world where disease/death is to be fought, but nothing shows less respect for those ending their life cycles than being kept alive. Nothing terrifies me more than a diagnosis of an illness which foretells years of inevitable decline. There is no reprieve.
Life cycle matters. Recent technology has revealed an evolving universe. Not just Earth has life cycles; so does Sun, Milky Way and all beyond.
Perhaps better awareness of the universality of life cycles can free us from past dogmas. Death is a vital part of life. We give our pets a way out. Isn't it time to do the same for humans?
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Ruth Beeker
Midtown
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