MONTPELIER, Vt. -
A video shows Logan Voyer in a car at 19 singing the lyrics to a Gwen Stefani song about finding what he was looking for-- an escape.
"It's fun to laugh with them and remember the good times and enjoy that laughter," Cathy Voyer said. "Fortunately, we have those videos."
For Cathy Voyer, Logan's mother, this video is a window to the past. It's the only way to see her son as she remembers him. He took his own life not long after this video was taken.
"You're guilty, you feel responsible at times, but you can't stop people from making that choice," Voyer said through tears.
In her son's memory Voyer has become an advocate for suicide prevention, which is why she's voicing her opinion against the end of life bill. The bill would allow terminally ill patients, given six months or less to live, to elect to end their own lives.
"What kind of message is that sending them?" Voyer asked.
She worries the message could push troubled teens, like her son over the edge.
Sponsors of the bill say issues like teen suicide, while important, are sidebars and take away from the positive things this bill could do for the state of Vermont.
"I don't think this is about teenage suicide rates, I don't think this is about kids at all," said Sen. Virginia Lyons, D-Chittenden County.
Lyons, a sponsor of the bill, says it has power to positively revolutionize patient care in Vermont.
"It says that when people are very ill that we respect their own decision making about how they feel about their quality of life," Lyons said.
But for Voyer, her pain makes her proactive.
"The pain that's left behind is excruciating and it never goes away," Voyer said.
For her, even if it's one kid that's spared by fighting this bill, it would be enough. Hoping to prevent more teens from turning to suicide, as Voyer knows too well, the hole they leave behind is something no family will ever be able to escape.
Lawmakers voted the bill down in 2007. Senators say they're not sure if it will make it to the floor this session.
Related Stories:
Right to Die, Part 1
Right to Die, Part 2
