Read Stories About Minnesotans Who Want Real Care

Retired oncology nurse accompanies patients at the end of their lives so that ‘No one dies alone’

“The intentional taking of life can rob us of the many unexpected gifts we can receive from a dying loved one. What we need is more palliative care which encourages families to encounter end of life care in a meaningful way and to talk honestly about this with the dying person so they see how much value their life still holds.”

Read Roland's Story

Jean's Story

‘I’d rather be dead than disabled.”

I remember feeling that way several months before I became severely disabled. In 1980, I had taken a group of teenage girls to see a young quadriplegic named Joni Eareckson Tada, who painted beautifully by holding a paintbrush in her mouth. Though inspired by her talent, I remember telling the girls, “I could never live like that.”

A few months later my neck was broken in a car accident, and I became a quadriplegic, paralyzed below my shoulders. I would spend the next year and a half in various hospitals and rehabilitation centers, dealing with medical problems and learning to live with a spinal cord injury.

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Teresa

Healthcare is about health and care; assisted suicide defies both. The medical community should not be in the business of writing off a person's care in favor of assisting in death. Assisted suicide has an insidious effect on the family, friends, and society the person leaves behind. The physician and the pharmacist are also deeply affected.

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Kathy & Kylen

I have spent the past twenty-one years of my life as a disability advocate trying to get people to see the dignity and the value and the worth of his life.

Read Kathy & Kylen's Story