I want to thank Clare Dalton for authoring the June 19 op-ed on Maine’s Death with Dignity statute (“Amend Maine’s Death with Dignity statute, reduce suffering“).

Fifteen years ago, the Portland Press Herald printed an article I wrote asking for the same type of relief for people living in pain with no hope of relief or cure. Betty, one of my friends, was bedridden, could no longer move her limbs, had excruciating pain that medications were not able to quell, could not turn the pages of a book or even push a call button for help. And, she had been to Boston for a second opinion.

Her mind was still brilliant and she begged me to make arrangements to get her to Switzerland, where death with dignity was legal and performed by Dignitas, a nonprofit. It took three agonizing months of constant contact to provide all the exacting proof needed by Dignitas, but, in the end, Betty finally got there and was in control of when and how she ended her pain. It was the kindest thing I have ever done.

Shelley Dunn
Portland