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NEWS FEBRUARY 24, 2020 ¦ 9

My Sister-in-Law Died by Assisted Suicide:
Connecticut Braces for Aid-in-Dying Bill

By Robert Storace

A Connecticut Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Photo: Google
ttorneys are watching as Connecticut weighs But lawyers expect challenges, as the state
becoming the ninth state in the country to Legislature plans to hold public hearings by
adopt an “aid-in-dying” law. March on the 2020 version of the bill, which
But ethics expert Audrey Chapman is looking on came out of the Public Health Committee late
with special interest. Friday.
For Chapman, a professor of medical ethics at the Day Pitney partner Brad Gallant, who has worked
University of Connecticut Health Center, the issue on trusts and estates for eight years, said the ethical
is not just an ethical or legal matter—it’s personal. concerns vary—leaving attorneys bracing for uncer-
Chapman, who favors Connecticut’s proposed tainty. For instance: What happens if a third party
assisted-suicide bill, said her sister-in-law decided wants to assist in taking someone’s life for financial
how to end her life about a year ago in Colorado, gain?
where assisted suicide is legal. Her relative had just The proposed law appears to anticipate pitfalls,
weeks to live, and was in a lot of pain. and Gallant believes it presents a slippery slope.
“For people who are often in that situation, it’s not “The next step will be substituted decisions by
about a matter of trying to prolong their life,” Chapman others coming into play,” he said.
said. “Rather, it prolongs their death and suffering.”
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