The Burlington Free Press editorial on Feb. 25 had it exactly backward when it wrote that a recent Zogby International poll about end-of-life issues was misleading. The Zogby poll properly identified the circumstances in which the proposed legislation (H.44) would apply, and it gave respondents the opportunity to respond without coloring their answers with a label -- the word "suicide" -- to which almost everyone has a built-in bias.

With such a serious issue on its plate, the Vermont Legislature should avoid the tangle of politically charged labels and instead should take a cue from the Zogby poll results and deal with this question in an open, straightforward way. The Zogby survey shows that when labels are left out of the discussion, Vermonters are fully capable of expressing their opinions on this subject. The poll asked a question without the use of a loaded term, the same way that we hope the Legislature will debate it.

The February poll has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points. It found that 82 percent of Vermonters support "legislation to allow a mentally competent adult, dying of a terminal disease, the choice to request and receive medication from a physician to peacefully end suffering and hasten death." Furthermore, 91 percent agree that people need to be respected to make their own end-of-life decisions without having others' values and views imposed on them, and also agree that they personally want the peace of mind that, should such a decision arise for them, they would like to have the full range of options available for them to make their choice.

Zogby International's sampling and weighting procedures have been validated through its national political polling: more than 95 percent of the firm's polls have come within 1 percent of actual election day outcomes.

The editorial states that "there's something unnerving about government legislating death." Yet existing laws bar end-of-life choice and consider it a felony if a doctor aids a suffering, dying patient who asks for help to hasten death. It is well documented that the practice goes on under the table in Vermont and throughout the country. The time has come to openly monitor this practice so that aiding a patient's last act need not be criminal.

The editorial continues, "Vermont has no death penalty. Can we really sanction state-sanctioned suicide?" The vast majority of Vermonters understand the difference between suicide and the choice of an already dying patient to shorten suffering and to hasten death.

Suicide is a choice of death over life.

A terminally ill patient does not have that choice: Death is imminent.

Suicide is an expression of despair and futility; patient-directed dying is a form of affirmation and empowerment.

Most suicides are destructive to the family; they are tragic. In Oregon, the deaths of those who used the law were peaceful and were supported by loved ones.

The editorial's choice of words is unfortunate. The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine rejected the term "physician assisted suicide" as "emotionally charged" and inaccurate.

In Oregon the Death with Dignity Act became law in 1997. The eight annual reports of the Oregon Department of Human Services have proved that the fears of the opposition are groundless; the law is a proven success. Vermont's own independent Legislative Council's report concluded, "it is apparent from credible sources ... that the DWD Act has not had an adverse impact on end-of-life care and in all probability has enhanced the other options." Oregon has been our laboratory. Few legislative initiatives come with as much predictability as H.44.

The debate has been long and thorough. The research has been authoritative and convincing. Largely as a result of the Death With Dignity Act, Oregon has become one of the best states in the country for palliative care and hospice utilization. Vermonters deserve nothing less.

Govs. Phil Hoff and Madeleine Kunin and Lt. Gov. Barbara Snelling, along with former Vermont Congressman and Speaker of the House Dick Mallary, have joined forces in saying, "The Time Has Come."

Dick Walters of Shelburne is the president of Death With Dignity Vermont.