In April 2021, a group of protesters gathered in the shadow of the gold dome of the Connecticut Capitol, holding signs that read “DON’T CANCEL CARE” and “FREEDOM TO LIVE.” They came to protest that COVID restrictions were forcing them to testify virtually against a bill legalizing a practice they abhorred: medically assisted suicide.
Their urgency was palpable. In the previous eight years, proponents of assisted suicide had introduced legalization bills seven times, with each one dying in a General Assembly committee. But in 2021, a legalization bill advanced out of the joint Public Health Committee, one of two it had to clear to make it to the floor.
