End of life review is a time when decisions made in life are revisited. The anguish women feel after a late-term abortion is very real. This will play out for the remainder of their lives, particularly at death.

Legislators of Maine must view L.D. 1619 in light of the fact that they too will do their own end of life review one day. Do you want the unimaginable suffering of women and death of babies to be your legacy? True leadership demands the most vulnerable in society are preserved and protected, not thrown away.

Women do not want to end the life of their child. They want relief from fear. All humans live with fear and face challenges, some more than others, like women in crises pregnancies and my son who lives with Down syndrome. This prenatal diagnosis has a 70% abortion rate; in Iceland that rate is 100%. Think about that.

Supporting one another in their fear and challenges is how we grow in love, patience, and a desire to serve others. It is how we build societies that work for the common good and protect its own. L.D. 1619 goes against what it means to be human.

Stacy Veevers-Carter

West Bath