Local Senator To Introduce Assisted Suicide Bill

Dear Friends,

For the last two years, I have watched as state after state has followed in the destructive wake of Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, and Oregon in enacting laws which authorize physicians and other medical professionals to prescribe or administer lethal doses of drugs. If you have perhaps been at one of our events on the topic of end-of-life care, then you know that I have been increasingly concerned that as we seem to advance the cause of life at its earliest stages we lose footing in protections for the infirm, the elderly, and the terminally ill. As I watch incredibly well-funded national organizations go state to state, I have been increasingly concerned that the next Roe v Wade will legalize death on demand in the form of assisted suicide and euthanasia.

This is not an idle concern and it is not an issue that we can allow to take foothold in our culture any more. Do you know that a 29-year old, otherwise healthy, woman in Holland will commit assisted suicide because she has determined that she cannot live with her mental illness? Did you know that the New England Journal of Medicine recently released a report that uncovered more than 400 patients who died by assisted suicide but who did not request it? If those are too far away to seem real, Canadian healthcare officials and providers are being told that they cannot opt out of providing assisted suicide, leading to numerous “conscience campaigns” and lawsuits by Catholic hospitals. If you are shaking your head and saying that the US is better than that, did you know that under Oregon’s assisted suicide law, which has loopholes big enough to drive a hearse through, an individual with diabetes fits the definition of those eligible to die by physician assisted suicide?

Diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 30 million Americans have diabetes.
Thus, it did not come as any surprise, although it did come with a great deal of sorrow, to learn that within hours of a gathering of the pro-life faithful in the Ohio Statehouse for the annual Roe Remembrance, a local state senator, Charleta Taveres, announced that she would be introducing Oregon-style assisted suicide legislation in Ohio. In doing so, Senator Tavares’ announcement echoed with a familiar refrain, she believes that in the places in the United States where assisted suicide has been given the favor of the law that it is a rare occurrence that allows a patient who wishes to die to access death safely and with the support of loved ones and it should, therefore, be legal. Sound familiar to anyone?

In reality, however, it has been well established by medical professionals, researchers, reporters, and groups like the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition that assisted suicide laws are not as protective as their proponents claim they are. Actual statistics from places with assisted suicide show that the assisted suicide rates are increasing exponentially, and as the rates increase so do the abuses.

It is absolutely true that just last fall the Ohio General Assembly explicitly added criminal penalties for assisted suicide, reflecting the pro-life majority in both chambers of the General Assembly. It is also true that as a member of the Democratic Caucus, which is a substantial minority in the Ohio Senate, Senator Tavares is not likely to see much movement on her proposed legislation. But pro-life voices in Ohio must gird their loins, because this is a battle that is coming for us – in the legislature, via the ballot, or in the courts. Are we ready?

Here is what you can do right now:

• Pray. Right now. Add it to your intentions. Share it with your lists. Talk to your priest, pastor, elder, or deacon and ask what you and your church can do to raise awareness of this threat to the dignity of human life.
• Get informed:  Can you defend your pro-life values at the end of life? We can bring a one-hour program to your church, respect life group, or Bible study that helps start the conversation on assisted suicide. The program includes a 40 minute documentary presented by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition as well as topical discussions to frame the discussion from the perspective of faith. If you’d like to schedule a date, email me today. If your church or business is willing to host a regional program to look at the issue a little deeper, please let me know that, too! If you are not on our email list (we send out about two emails a month), you can sign up today.
• Get involved: Consider calling or writing a short, polite, message to your state senator letting him or her know that you oppose any effort to enact assisted suicide legislation in the state of Ohio. Ask that he or she not sign on as a co-sponsor. Be sure that your message conveys your own sincerity, your fearless fidelity to the truth, and the loving joy of prolife witness. If you do not know who your state senator is, you can look him or her up here: http://ohiosenate.gov/index. The message need not be long or sophisticated – feel free to use some of the information that we’ve shared above or use your own.
• Support our work: There are a lot of ways to support our work. You can pray with us and for us, you can volunteer with us, you can attend our events. If you can, make a donation. Supporting us financially is necessary if we are going to keep doing this work. Last year, a few hundred people helped us keep the lights on at GCRTL.  Every bit helps.
• Network: Consider talking to your medical providers. Let them know that a bill to legalize assisted suicide has been announced in Ohio and that you are counting on them to work within their medical associations to oppose this kind of law even if the sponsor says it will protect conscience rights. If you blog, dedicate a blog post to this topic. Write a letter to the editor. Consider even how you can partner with individuals who may not come from a traditional pro-life perspective. For example, in many communities the coalitions that form to oppose assisted suicide include entities that do not typically consider themselves pro-life or religious or politically conservative. Sometimes people’s eyes are opened to God’s truth in ways that we do not expect. So don’t be afraid to grab your liberal cousin and say, “hey, I know you feel strongly about disability rights (or elder abuse or suicide prevention). I do too. Maybe we can work on this one together.”
• Learn More: The internet provides many great resources for end-of-life protection and for fighting against assisted suicide and euthanasia laws. Here are a few that we like:
  • Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
  • Alex Schadenberg’s Blog
  • USCCB: Living Each Day With Dignity, resources against assisted suicide
  • National Catholic Bioethics Center (search assisted suicide. Some info ‘Members Only’)
  • Family Research Council