"Everyone knows they're going to die -- but no one believes it," said Morrie Schwartz, quoted by Mitch Albom in "Tuesdays With Morrie." Intellectually, we all know that we will die, but we live as if it won't happen -- at least not to us! Woody Allen made a similar point when he reportedly said, "I don't mind dying. It's just that I don't want to be there when it happens." Most of us resist facing end-of-life issues (I didn't even have a will until I was almost 40!) and need the caring support of others, family members and medical people especially, as the end approaches.

Of course, death is an inescapable part of life for all living creatures, including ourselves. Knowing this, I want and claim the right to decide when and how my death will come, assuming that circumstances permit and that I am mentally competent at the time. I claim the right as an adult to decide for myself and for others to decide for themselves, just as insistently as I claim the right to decide about other aspects of my life.

This right should not be lightly delegated, not to the medical establishment (though I am blessed to be on excellent terms with the doctors who care for me) or to family and friends whom I love and who love me. This right was part of the package that God gave to us when we were created. That package includes the freedom to make decisions and the responsibility to do so wisely.

Government, with its end-of-life laws and regulations, interferes with the responsible exercise of that right. That is why I urge Vermont senators and representatives to enact the "death with dignity" legislation needed for the people of Vermont to have the full range of choices available to them as they -- we -- approach the end of our lives.

REV. ALEXANDER C. ZABRISKIE
Burlington

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