Assisted Suicide – Page 4

Oregon Expands Assisted-Suicide to Nonresidents Despite Obvious Flaws in State Law

Jul 25, 2023Jerry CoxEuthanasia and Assisted SuicideAssisted Suicide, Euthanasia, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

Oregon will let nonresidents end their lives under the state’s assisted-suicide law, according to a bill that Gov. Tina Kotek signed on July 13. The new measure amends Oregon’s 1997 “Death With Dignity Act” that legalized physician-assisted suicide in the state. Going forward, non-residents will be able to travel to Oregon and receive a prescription for lethal drugs if they meet the other criteria in the assisted-suicide law.

Family Council has written repeatedly about the problems with Oregon’s assisted-suicide law over the years.

For example, since 1998, only 3% of assisted-suicide patients in Oregon were referred for psychiatric evaluation first.

That matters, because data from the Oregon Health Authority indicates the vast majority of terminally ill patients who want to end their lives under the state’s assisted-suicide law possibly are wrestling with some type of mental illness.

Over the past 25 years, more than 90% of the patients who inquired about assisted-suicide in Oregon said they were concerned about losing their autonomy because of their illness, and nearly 75% expressed worries about losing their dignity. Most did not express concerns about controlling their pain.

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

That’s part of the reason why pro-lifers maintain that 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 cost.

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.

As Oregon expands its assisted-suicide laws, Arkansans should remember that 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.

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

Join Family Council in Little Rock on August 17 & 18 for the Foundations of Truth Summit, a worldview conference designed to equip and encourage Christians to engage their culture with a biblical worldview. Register here today!

Delaware Lawmakers Advance Assisted-Suicide Legislation

May 24, 2023Jerry CoxEuthanasia and Assisted SuicideAssisted Suicide, Bioethics, Euthanasia

A measure permitting assisted-suicide is advancing in the Delaware legislature.

Last week, Delaware’s House Human Health and Development Committee passed H.B. 140 — a bad bill that would let physicians and advance practice registered nurses (APRNs) in Delaware prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill patients.

The measure does not require patients to undergo any type of mental health evaluation before receiving the lethal drugs. That is significant, because patients who seek assisted suicide typically are dealing with depression or mental anguish resulting from their illness.

For example, since 1998, more than 90% of the terminally ill people who inquired about assisted suicide in Oregon said they were concerned about losing their autonomy, and nearly 75% expressed worries about losing their dignity. Most did not express concerns about controlling their 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.

Despite this fact, the vast majority of Oregon’s assisted-suicide patients never receive a mental health evaluation. The same is true in other states where assisted-suicide is legal.

Assisted suicide also makes it harder for patients to receive actual healthcare.

In parts of the U.S. where physician-assisted suicide is permitted, insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care, but have offered to cover assisted-suicide drugs.

Being pro-life means believing human life is sacred from conception until natural death.

That’s part of the reason why in 2019 Family Council helped defeat a very bad legislative proposal to let doctors prescribe lethal drugs to patients in Arkansas. It was a deeply flawed piece 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. Pro-lifers must stand strong against them.

The “Face of Assisted Death in Canada”

Mar 6, 2023John StonestreetEuthanasia and Assisted Suicide, Pro-LifeAssisted Suicide, Euthanasia, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

Since so-called Medical Aid in Dying was legalized in Canada, those with severe medical conditions have been increasingly in danger. Care is becoming harder to find, while the option to die is quick, cheap, and always available.

One woman recently told her story on Twitter,

I am the face of [assisted-death] in Canada. As a 42-year-old woman with a rare complication of lupus [and] iatrogenic injuries, I will only cost the “system”.  I want to live but can’t get the care I need [and] have been approved for MAiD.

This is what opponents of MAiD warned of all along. The so-called “right” to die with dignity quickly becomes a “duty” to die, as vulnerable people are crushed beneath economic, social, and medical pressures. 

In fact, according to demographer Lyman Stone, “Canada euthanized more people last month than the sum total of every Canadian wartime casualty since 1946.” Increasingly, those most at risk are losing the ability to choose.