Last week the Baltimore Banner published an article highlighting unsuccessful efforts to pass assisted-suicide legislation in Maryland and Delaware this year. The story is a sobering reminder of the dangers of the so-called “right to die” movement.
Oregon first allowed physician-assisted suicide in 1998, and we have seen time and again the harm that it has caused there.
Official state reports show 560 terminally-ill patients received lethal prescriptions for assisted-suicide in Oregon last year. Out of those 560 people, only three were referred for psychological or psychiatric evaluation. The rest were given a lethal prescription without question.
The reasons people gave most often for wanting to end their lives in Oregon last year were loss of autonomy, decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable, and loss of dignity. Most patients did not express concerns about pain.
Many of these patients are lonely and feel like they are losing control over their lives because of their illness. That means they need counseling and support — not a prescription for poisonous drugs.
In spite of all of this, Oregon passed a law last year letting non-residents end their lives under the state’s assisted-suicide law — meaning the situation there is liable to get worse in the future.
Evidence elsewhere shows how assisted-suicide actually robs patients of compassionate care.
In 2019 a Canadian man with ALS made headlines when he chose to take his own life under the country’s assisted suicide and euthanasia laws after the government chose not to provide him with 24-hour home healthcare services due to costs.
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.
And we have heard stories about patients in Europe being denied care or actively euthanized thanks to bad government policies.
Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death.
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 pieces of end-of-life legislation in 2021. These were flawed measures that fundamentally disrespected the right to life.
Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted-suicide are murder, and they violate the sanctity of human life. They simply have no place in our society.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
