advocate Archives - Maine Death with Dignity

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Making Peace with Life Through Death, Part 1: Preparing

Posted on July 19, 2020August 9, 2020 by Valerie Lovelace

Republished from Death with Dignity National Center. Maine resident Karen Wentworth is the second patient to access the Maine Death with Dignity Act, which went into effect in September 2019. In the first installment of this 3-part series, Karen reads from an essay she wrote after she obtainedCONTINUE READING »

Maine Patient on “Making the Call”

Posted on July 8, 2020July 13, 2020 by Valerie Lovelace

Karen Wentworth, a resident of South Portland, Maine, shares her experience as a terminally ill patient qualifying for the Maine Death with Dignity Act on "Making the Call," a medical ethics podcast. Joined by Peg Sandeen, PhD, Executive Director of Death with Dignity National Center, they discuss withCONTINUE READING »

From the Board

Posted on June 3, 2020June 6, 2020 by Valerie Lovelace

OUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we know as the "State of Maine" and "United States of America." We know they and their descendants suffered and continue to suffer in unimaginable ways at the hands of colonialism. We acknowledge that we live, work andCONTINUE READING »

Chris’s Story: Keeping A Promise

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Maine Death with Dignity

Chris Trider is a retired electrician in Leeds and a Maine Death with Dignity volunteer. He told the Death with Dignity National Center this story in January 2019. * My wife, Karen, passed away from liver cancer in October 2018. When doctors discovered the cancer several months earlier,CONTINUE READING »

Donna Wiegle: “The Choice About How Things Go”

Posted on July 9, 2018January 31, 2019 by Maine Death with Dignity

Donna Wiegle is the founder of Eldercare Outreach of Swan's Island. She lives in Swan's Island. She told us this story, which first appeared at Death with Dignity National Center's website, in June 2018. * I survived my first bout with cancer nearly 30 years ago. Then, inCONTINUE READING »

Eva Thompson (1959-2017): “It should be my choice”

Posted on December 29, 2017July 28, 2020 by Maine Death with Dignity

We were deeply saddened to learn of the death today of Eva Thompson, a steadfast advocate for Death with Dignity legislation in Maine. She was 58. During her four-year illness—she suffered from metastatic colon cancer—Eva worked with It’s My Death, sharing her story and educating Mainers and MaineCONTINUE READING »

Rebecca Van Wormer (1974-2017): “I want the option to go on my terms”

Posted on October 15, 2017July 28, 2020 by Maine Death with Dignity

A resident of East Millinocket, Maine, Rebecca VanWormer told us her story in August 2015. She died in January 2017. * I’m 43 years old and I’m dying of cancer. My goal is to live as long as I can but when I get to the point whereCONTINUE READING »