Wednesday 24 June 2026

The Unlikely Connecticut Coalition Fighting Assisted Suicide

As more states legalize the practice, conservative and progressive activists have found success by joining forces.
Charles Hilu /
Three separate portraits displayed side-by-side: on the left, a person wearing glasses and a black hat holding a sign reading "Progressives Against Medical Assisted Suicide"; in the center, a person in a wheelchair indoors; and on the right, a man in a blue suit and striped tie.
Joan Cavanagh, Cathy Ludlum, and Peter Wolfgang (Photos by Christopher Capozziello/Genesis Photos)

HARTFORD, Connecticut—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.

Charles Hilu is a reporter for The Dispatch based in Washington, D.C. Before joining the company in 2024, he was the Collegiate Network Fellow at the Washington Free Beacon and interned at both National Review and the Washington Examiner. When he is not chasing down lawmakers on Capitol Hill, he is probably listening to show tunes or following the premier sports teams of the University of Michigan and city of Detroit.

More We Think You’d Like