When I heard that Vermont allows a person to choose the right to die, assuming ongoing uncontrollable pain or commensurate hopelessness, I made a mental note to visit my daughter in Vermont if I were ever in that position.

Thus, I was pleased to see a call to have end-of-life self-determination on the statewide ballot in Maine. However, I am appalled to note that those calling for it mention that a lethal dose would or could be self-administered.

Mine would never be self-administered, because I want to return to the status of my near-death experience, in which I experienced after-life fulfillment beyond ecstasy of any human description. The event is described in my poem “Cosmic Laser,” published in 2013 in my collection ” ‘Unlaundered Cache’ and Other Poems.”

Medical personnel should be in charge of administering the lethal dose. I do not want to risk that the Almighty might not differentiate between a legal self-administered dose and suicide. It is my understanding that those who have attempted to take their own lives go to darkness rather than seeing and communicating with the light, as I did during my natural near-death experience. (My information, if remembered correctly, came from the International Association of Near Death Studies.)

By all means, let someone edit a self-determinable end-of-life option to put on the next statewide ballot in Maine. My opinion is available herewith to be on the table.

Mary Elizabeth Nordstrom

Kennebunk