Commission on Aging (COA) members listened to a presentation about Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) legislation at their Monday, March 30 meeting.

The legislation allows a terminally ill, mentally capable adult with a prognosis of six months or less to live to request, obtain, and take medication — should they choose — to die in their sleep if they believe their suffering is unbearable.

The COA was also going to listen to a presentation about Wheel It Forward, a durable medical equipment lending library that has a branch in Newtown, at the meeting. However, COA Chair Pat Bailey said the Wheel It Forward representatives could not make it, meaning their presentation will be postponed to the next COA meeting.

The presentation on MAID was delivered by Middlebury resident and retired teacher Michael Trusiewicz.

While he does not live in Newtown, Trusiewicz said he has been coming to Newtown Senior Center for years. He started going to Newtown Senior Center when it was still at its old 14 Riverside Road location, and has enjoyed taking dance lessons and playing pickleball in the years since.

In his 11th year of retirement, Trusiewicz said he has studied his own feelings on MAID and recognized that he, personally, does not fear death.

While he feels comfort in having lived a full life, Trusiewicz has this thought lingering in the back of his mind: that he will be someone who finds himself facing a terminal illness with a very poor prognosis, having to face pain and suffering that cannot be relieved.

"So this is one of the primary reasons why I offered to do this for you," Trusiewicz said.

He gave the COA two options for his presentation: a short program that briefly discusses MAID and a longer, more in-depth presentation that covers statistics and differing view points on the topic.

Bailey said she is someone who believes in consensus and asked her fellow COA members if they would like to see the presentation in full, to which they all said yes.

Currently, MAID is provided in Washington, D.C. and 12 states: Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey, Maine, New Mexico, Delaware, and Illinois.

It was also signed into New York law in February this year, and will take effect on August 5, 2026.

Approximately 20% of people in the United States currently have the option to use this end of life care option, according to Trusiewicz. This number will increase to around 30% when it takes effect in New York later this year.

MAID is also provided in ten countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Columbia.

Trusiewicz said 14-18 states initiate proposals for MAID each year. Many proposals, such as those in Connecticut, do not reach the voting stage.

He said at the beginning of Connecticut's most recent session, legislators noted that they had a short session and would not have the time to review the topic this year.

"So it will not be looked at until next year, and it’s been proposed nine, ten, 11 times here in Connecticut," Trusiewicz said.

Qualifications And Statistics

Trusiewicz said that qualifications to use MAID are strict.

Someone can only qualify if they are terminally ill with six months left to live, are mentally capable, and are able to self-ingest medication.

Beyond that, Trusiewicz said there are additional safeguards set in place. Two physicians must confirm that the individual has six months left to live, is mentally capable, and is not being coerced.

For this to happen, two written requests are required, with a 15-day waiting period between the first and the second. Two people must also witness each request, but neither can be an heir.

There are also opt out provisions, according to Trusiewicz. A person who decides to use the law and asks for medication can withdraw their request at any time.

There is also an opt out provision for health care providers. If the person's physician, health care provider, or pharmacist does not want to participate, they are not required to.

A licensed mental health specialist must confirm the mental capacity to make a health care decision; mental capacity must be re-certified every 30 days by the attending doctor.

"So, there are fail safes to make sure so no one can use it the wrong way," Trusiewicz explained.

He added that, naturally, people should be informed about alternatives to MAID.

"The way I think about it is, my doctor has already told me we're going to do the best we can for you, but medical science cannot control the very end," Trusiewicz said. "That's really the situation where most of these people who are using this come from, but they must know about hospice and palliative care and any other way of doing it."

Trusiewicz went on to discuss statistics, starting with a survey on how Connecticut voters support MAID legislation.

Seventy-two percent of men and 78% of women support MAID. Breaking this down into age brackets, 80% of people ages 18-49 support MAID while 73% of ages 50+ are in favor of it.

While Trusiewicz said the Catholic Church is very opposed to MAID, he said data shows that 69% of Catholics in the state approve of it.

As far as voter affiliation, 84% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans, and 74% of Independents support MAID.

Opposing Arguments, More Statistics

Trusiewicz said, as they can all imagine, using MAID is a very tough decision to make. He added that the Catholic Church believes MAID is morally unacceptable, with the pope calling it a "failure of love" and a capitulation to a "throwaway culture."

"And [the pope] pointed out that suffering purifies the soul, fosters humility, strengthens faith, and conforms people more closely to Christ," Trusiewicz said.

Additional arguments, he said, believe MAID devalues life and undermines trust in medicine, and that science has a duty to protect all life.

Trusiewicz said some people feel MAID is a slippery slope and could lead to involuntary killing. Others, he said, believe suffering can be relieved through hospice and MAID might create pressure on vulnerable people, those "seen as burdens," and have them think they should take their own life.

Oregon was the first state to introduce MAID in 1994. After 31 years of use, Trusiewicz said 10,211 eligible people have actually used the prescription.

Eighty-eight percent of those who used it were enrolled in hospice or palliative care. There were approximately equal numbers of men and women, and over 77% of the ones who used the law were able to die at home.

Trusiewicz emphasized that only 62% of people with a prescription actually use it. Those who do not report that they feel more at peace with the end of their life, even just knowing the prescription is there.

"And evidently, in those cases, the suffering didn't become so unbearable, even though they wanted a way out," Trusiewicz said.

Trusiewicz emphasized that this is a very emotional topic, to the point where there are many people who feel so strongly about MAID being wrong that they are trying to repeal it.

States such as New Jersey, Oregon, and California, among others, have faced several attempts to either repeal, delay, alter, overturn, or invalidate MAID.

Trusiewicz went on to share anecdotes of people who chose to use MAID, with permission previously given for sharing.

These included Roseana Spangler-Sims, a 72-year old woman who was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Christine Whaley, a 42-year old woman whose pancreatic cancer spread to the brain, and couple Francie and Charlie Emerick, who suffered from a failing heart, and prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease, respectively.

Trusiewicz encouraged people to speak with their representatives about MAID, regardless of how they feel about the topic, so as to get State legislature to vote on it. The COA members agreed to make a committee within the commission in the hopes of outlining what Trusiewicz could talk about in a public forum on the topic.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.