Police say a Connecticut man has turned himself in after he reportedly chose to help his terminally ill wife die by suicide to end her suffering.

According to a press release from the Connecticut State Police, 65-year-old Kevin Conner from Westbrook voluntarily surrendered after learning they had issued a warrant for his arrest, charging him with second-degree manslaughter for "aiding another person to commit suicide," which took place on Sept. 18, 2018.

The manner in which Conner helped his wife to end her life has been raised in the arrest affidavit. He reportedly explained to police that he helped her hold and steady a gun so she could successfully shoot herself in the head.

Mrs. Conner described the intense pain she constantly experienced from her cancer and Lyme Disease plus her mental suffering from depression. The arrest warrant did not raise the question about whether she was offered palliative care counseling which might have included other options for taking her own life rather than a bullet to the brain.

Currently, there are 7 states that have passed "Death With Dignity" laws. Since 2014, Connecticut has attempted to pass a bill titled, "An Act Concerning Aid in Dying for Terminally Ill Patients" without success. The latest attempt was this past January when the bill did not come up for a committee vote in the 2019 session.  

According to the website, deathwithdignity.org, this bill means "the medical practice of a physician prescribing medication to a qualified patient who is terminally ill, which medication a qualified patient may self-administer to bring about his or her death." The question for you is, would you support a 'death with dignity' bill and if not, why not?

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