Financial websites report a New York company is offering “terminally ill patients ‘a good death’ for just under $12,000.”
Late last year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced an agreement to enact legislation letting healthcare professionals prescribe lethal drugs via so-called “Medical Aid in Dying.” New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act officially took effect on August 5.
That same day, a new company called Quiĕtus began offering assisted suicide in New York. Moneywise and Yahoo Finance write:
“Imagine that instead of taking medication to fend off death from a terminal illness, a person could pay to take a concoction that will end their life in minutes — giving them full control of when and where they die. …
“Quiĕtus was recently profiled by The New York Times. It’s made up of a group of nine doctors, nurses, psychologists and other clinicians. It has no dedicated office because it visits and treats patients in their home.
“Before their scheduled death, patients get two medical evaluations and a mental health screening, as well as a prescription for the drugs needed, including lethal doses of cardiac medication, that will end their life. The $12,000 cost for the patient covers all of this and help for the grieving family after their passing.”
It’s very troubling any time people talk about assisted suicide as if it is a more affordable option for people who are sick or dying.
In parts of the U.S. where physician-assisted suicide is legal, insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care, but have offered to cover assisted-suicide drugs.
Since 1998, more than one out of twenty assisted-suicide patients in Oregon have expressed concerns about the financial cost of medical treatment, and nearly half have expressed concerns about becoming a “burden” to the people around them.
This is why so many commentators have said that the so-called “right” to die eventually becomes a “duty to die” once assisted suicide is legalized. It puts social and financial pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives prematurely.
Patients in Europe and Canada reportedly have been denied care or actively euthanized as a result of assisted-suicide laws.
Assisted suicide is devastating for families, and it robs patients of compassionate care.
Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death.
Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are murder, and they violate the sanctity of human life.
That’s why Family Council helped defeat a very bad bill in 2019 that would have let doctors prescribe lethal drugs to patients in Arkansas and two bad end-of-life bills in 2021. These were flawed measures that fundamentally disrespected the right to life.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
