Right to Die

basis of the right to abortion—”
    Hisses and boos jumped out all over the room, vying with applause.
    “Such is the right to sexual preference—”
    More noise.
    “And such is the right to die. To determine for oneself that the time has come when prayer is no longer availing, when the medicine that can prolong life can no longer improve it. I believe it barbaric to force our elderly, our infirm, our comatose, and their respective families to continue to suffer when a veterinarian would be reviled for not bestowing a parallel mercy on a similarly situated dog or cat.
    “I began tonight by saying that I killed my husband, but there is a difference between cruelly killing someone with kindness and mercifully killing that person kindly. Let me close by describing to you what my husband’s life would have been like without my helping him. He was fifty-two years old, he had suffered a stroke. A doctor himself, he knew that the only possible prognosis was irreversible deterioration. His condition cost him his native tongue; cost him the ability to move his limbs, to swallow, to sit up, even to control his bowels. He was no longer a tenth of the vital, loving, caring person he’d been all his life. The alternative to my helping him would have been months of humiliation and pain, both mental and physical, and toward what end? To set some sort of unofficial record for suffering in a sport where everyone insists upon adherence to the rules but no one rewards those who try the hardest. Please, let us reconsider together, unblinded by religion or logic, and simply endorse what is right and fair and appropriate: the ending of life when life has ceased to be what any of us would call living. Thank you.”
    Sincere applause, growing as Andrus reached her seat. She looked down into the sashed area, smiled, and nodded. I could see Tucker Hebert flash her a thumbs-up.
    Olivia Jurick returned to the podium. “Thank you, Professor Andrus. I’d now like to take questions. If you have something to ask, please raise your hand. I believe everyone will be able to hear a bit better if you stand while putting your question. Uh, yes, ma’am, you, please.”
    An austere woman with straight hair the color of chrome rose and began to speak with Locust Valley lockjaw. “I think it obvious to any rational person that tonight’s debate has demonstrated the absolute bankruptcy of the so-called Dukakis ‘Massachusetts Miracle’ which was always a function of Reagan administration deficit spending on the Commonwealth’s defense contractors.”
    Del Wonsley said, “A wild-card favorite.”
    As Jurick leaned into the microphone to interrupt, the austere woman said, “That’s all I have to say,” and dropped back into her seat.
    Jurick quickly pointed to an older man with short gray hair. Standing awkwardly and wearing a cardigan sweater, his voice was raspy. “Professor Andrus, my daughter was sick and got ahold of your book.” He held up a copy by the binding. “Three weeks later she went and killed herself. How do you feel about that?”
    A number of people in the audience gasped. Alec Bacall smiled grimly. “Off to the races.”
    Jurick didn’t seem to know what to do as moderator. Maisy Andrus never left her chair. “Since I don’t believe I knew your daughter, sir, I—”
    “Her name was Heidi. Heidi Doleman. Now you know.” I came forward in my seat. I couldn’t see any bulges over Louis Doleman’s hips, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t carrying up front for a cross-draw.
    “As I was about to say, Mr. Doleman, since I don’t believe I knew your daughter, I don’t know what to think of her death. If she was suffering, I hope that you and any other loved ones supported her in what she believed to be best.”
    “Weren’t any other loved ones, Professor. Just Heidi and me. But you’ve said just about what I thought you would.”
    As Doleman sat back down, Olivia Jurick nearly sighed in relief over the mike. She pointed to a teenage girl directly between us and the stage.
    The girl wore a pink beret over sandy hair. “Professor Andrus, do you think it’s right for little babies to be taken from the womb and killed before they get asked whether or not they’re ready to die?”
    Grumbling and shushing in the audience.
    Again from her chair, Andrus said, “We’re not here tonight to argue for or against abortion, but yes, I think the woman carrying the fetus has such a right, though it is intellectually distinct