Pending legislation on assisted suicide must be stopped

On Thursday, February 7, 2019, the New Jersey Senate Committee on Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens, held a hearing on the so-called, “Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act” (A 1504/S1072).  If passed in both the full Assembly and the full Senate and signed by the governor the measure would decriminalize assisting in a suicide for a particular group of people – those facing a terminal illness of six months or less to live – allowing these patients to request a lethal prescription in order to self-administer medication to end their lives.  
At the start of the hearing the Committee Chair, Senator Joseph Vitale, instructed the “standing room only” crowd that the hearing would be limited to one-hour and that testimonies would be restricted to 2 minutes for each person.  Breaking the 2-minute rule right from the start, the Chair permitted the two prime sponsors of the bill, Assemblyman Burzichelli and Senator Scutari, to speak for a combined 10 minutes in defense of “Aid in Dying.”
A large number of opponents of S1072 were present including people from the disabilities community, healthcare, faith-based groups (including Catholics) and patient advocacy organizations dedicated to preventing the legalization of doctor-prescribed suicide in New Jersey.  Proponents of the bill were also in attendance including the CEO and other staff members of Compassionate & Choices, an organization committed to promoting the legalization of assisted suicide, the ACLU and individuals who were, themselves, chronically or terminally ill and/or their family members.
While those in favor of the bill called the a measure a “prescription for peace-of mind” for those facing terminal illness and the fear of unbearable suffering, critics of the bill pointed to inadequate safeguards for abuse and coercion, suicide contagion, misdiagnosis, and insurance decisions based on cost-containment resulting in denials for those who want treatment.
Throughout the hearing witnesses were cut short and interrupted by committee members.  Many who had planned to testify were not given the opportunity due to the time constraints, leaving them feeling frustrated with the process.
In an interesting twist (or should I say “fix”) Senator Steve Sweeney and Senator Nicholas Scutari, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, sat in on the hearing, taking the place of two Democrats on the committee who were unlikely to support the measure. In the end, the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee voted to release the bill, by a vote of 6-3.
Call to Action:  Catholics should be leaders in the effort to defend and uphold the principle that each of us has a right to live with dignity through every day of our lives. As disciples of one who is Lord of the living, we need to be messengers of the Gospel of Life.
A1504/S1072 may be voted on in the full Houses in the coming weeks.  We must make our voices heard so that assisted suicide does not become a reality in our state. For more information about this legislation, visit: www.diometuchen.org/physician-assisted-suicide or https://patientsrightsaction.org/ Contact your state representatives and ask them to oppose assisted suicide legislation (A1504/S1072) when it comes up for a vote by visiting: https://njcatholic.org/faith-in-action.  
Talk to your doctor to make him/her aware that this legislation is pending in New Jersey.  You can ask, “A bill to legalize assisted suicide is pending in New Jersey.  Do you support or oppose it?”  Not only will you get important information you need but you will be providing a service to your doctor.  
Some important points to consider, when speaking with legislators and others:
Although seriously ill patients, like people generally, most feel suicidal due to depression and similar conditions, and about 96% of those receiving lethal drugs never receive a psychological evaluation to detect such conditions that may interfere with true voluntary choice.
No trained medical personnel are required to be present at the time the lethal drugs are taken or at the time of death.  In fact, there is no supervision or tracking of the drugs once they leave the pharmacy.
As for those who take the drugs within the six months, no one will ever know when they would have died – under these laws there is no autopsy, and death certificates are falsified to say that death was due to the underlying illness.
The definition of “terminal illness” is arbitrary and could include patients who are not dying, as has happened in Oregon.  Also, a six-month prognosis is extremely difficult to predict, with many patients living far beyond six months.
The availability of assisted suicide has even led insurance companies in Oregon and California to refuse patients’ requests for life-extending treatment, offering to cover the lethal drugs instead.  These patients may have lived if assisted suicide had not emerged as a cheaper substitute for real treatments.
Finally, let us pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe that our society will embrace a culture of life and love, one in which we surround patients with love, support, and companionship, providing the assistance needed to ease their physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering, always anchored in an unconditional respect for all human life.