Assisted Suicide Legislation in Maryland, Delaware Underscore Dangers of So-Called “Right to Die”

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide,

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.

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Countries are Authorizing Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide for Young Adults Who Are Not Terminally Ill

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Recent headlines highlight how countries are authorizing assisted suicide and euthanasia for young adults who are not terminally ill.

For example, last month a judge authorized a 27-year-old woman in Canada to end her life under the country’s assisted suicide laws. The woman does not suffer from a terminal ailment. She simply has autism.

However, the Canadian court ruled that preventing her “medically assisted death [suicide]” would cause her to suffer “irreparable harm.”

In other words, the court ruled that for this woman with autism dying would somehow be less harmful than living.

In Netherlands, a 28-year-old Dutch woman was recently approved for euthanasia because she is “hobbled by her depression and autism and borderline personality disorder.”

In 2022 a staggering one out of every 20 deaths in Netherlands and one out of every 25 deaths in Canada were the result of the countries’ euthanasia and assisted suicide laws.

Healthcare professionals in Canada have even been told they have a professional obligation to mention assisted suicide to any patients considered “eligible.”

Last month Oregon — one of the first states to legalize assisted suicide — released its annual “Death With Dignity Act” reports for 2023.

The reports found that last year doctors in Oregon wrote 560 lethal prescriptions under the assisted suicide law.

Out of those 560 patients in Oregon, only three were referred for psychological or psychiatric evaluation.

It’s a sobering statistic, given that the overwhelming majority of these people told doctors that their chief end-of-life concerns were losing their autonomy or being less able to engage in activities they enjoyed.

Oregon passed a law last year letting non-residents end their lives under the state’s assisted-suicide law — meaning these numbers are liable to grow in the future.

Patients who are lonely, depressed, or feel like they are losing control over their lives need counseling and support — not a prescription for lethal drugs.

Assisted-suicide actually robs patients of compassionate care.

Being pro-life means believing human life is sacred from conception until natural death, and it means opposing the taking of human life without just cause.

That’s part of the reason why in Family Council helped defeat a very bad bill in 2019 to let doctors prescribe lethal drugs to patients in Arkansas and two bad pieces of end-of-life legislation in 2021. These were flawed pieces of legislation that fundamentally disrespected the sanctity of innocent human life.

Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted-suicide are murder, and they violate the sanctity of human life.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Guest Column: In Canada, ‘Right’ to Die Becomes Recommendation to Die

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Last year, the Canadian government sanctioned the killing of 13,241 people by the euphemistically named Medical Assistance in Dying. MAiD accounted for 4.1% of all deaths in Canada in 2022 and is the fifth leading cause of death in that country. 

The slide down this slippery slope began by first legalizing doctor-assisted suicide for people facing “imminent death” and then expanding it step by step until it was available to virtually anyone who asks for it. 

In fact, now Canadians don’t even need to ask. Doctors and nurse practitioners there have been told they have a professional obligation to bring up the option of MAiD to any patients considered “eligible.” That kind of suggestion can sound an awful lot like a recommendation to someone struggling with whether or not to live. 

These numbers are just going up, and they will until enough Canadians refuse to participate in Canada’s culture of death. 

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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