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This edition of the Life Issues Forum is available in English and has been posted to our website, where its Spanish translation will be posted as soon as it is available.
The Life Issues Forum is a bi-weekly column by Pro-Life Secretariat staff addressing the latest issues on the culture of life. Columns may be reprinted as they appear here (in full and without alteration) without further permission.
In Christ,
The Pro-Life Secretariat
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LIFE ISSUES FORUM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Some Good News in the Battle Against Assisted Suicide September 22, 2017 Greg Schleppenbach
The
movement to legalize doctor-assisted suicide has been gaining momentum
in recent years. Since 2015, two states (California and Colorado) and
the District of Columbia have joined Oregon, Washington State and
Vermont in legalizing the deadly practice. And 28 states had assisted
suicide bills introduced in 2017 with a handful coming very close to
succeeding. Compassion & Choices, the leading assisted suicide
proponent, has a well-organized and well-funded agenda that has been
very effective in leading these efforts.
So, where's the good news you may be asking?
Let's
start with those 28 states that had bills introduced to legalize
assisted suicide. With almost all of these states' legislatures having
finished their work for 2017, not a single bill has succeeded so far.
This success is largely due to the extraordinary work of broad based and
bi-partisan coalitions that include disability-rights, medical, elder,
minority, faith-based and pro-life groups.
What's
more, the only assisted-suicide-related legislation to succeed this
year either prohibits or limits the practice. Alabama, for example,
enacted a ban on the practice. Arizona enacted conscience protections
for medical professionals (should the practice ever be legalized there).
There
has also been good news from the judicial branch of government. In the
last couple of years, court challenges to assisted suicide bans in
Tennessee, New Mexico, Minnesota, Hawaii and, most recently, New York
have all failed. New York's highest court, in a unanimous ruling,
affirmed lower court decisions concluding that there is no
constitutional right to assisted suicide.
The
next source of good news comes from the medical profession with the
recent and very significant action by the American College of Physicians
to reaffirm its opposition to doctor-assisted suicide. Following a
nearly two-year, multi-level review of its policy against assisted
suicide, the ACP concluded that although there are arguments on both
sides, "the ethical arguments against legalizing physician-assisted
suicide remain most compelling." Continuing, they say:
"[Physician-assisted
suicide] is problematic given the nature of the patient-physician
relationship, affects trust in the relationship and in the profession,
and fundamentally alters the medical profession's role in society.
Furthermore, the principles at stake in this debate also underlie
medicine's responsibilities regarding other issues and the physician's
duties to provide care based on clinical judgment, evidence, and ethics.
Society's focus at the end of life should be on efforts to address
suffering and the needs of patients and families, including improving
access to effective hospice and palliative care. The ACP remains
committed to improving care for patients throughout and at the end of
life."
In
addition to the ACP, there are at least fourteen other medical
organizations that oppose legalizing assisted suicide. The biggest among
them, the American Medical Association, is currently reviewing its
policy against assisted suicide and needs to hear from its members that
the policy should be retained. AMA members will have an opportunity to
weigh in at the group's November House of Delegates meeting in Hawaii.
Opposition
to assisted suicide by medical groups plays a significant role in
defeating legislation to legalize the practice. Compassion & Choices
knows this well, which is why they are working very hard to infiltrate
and influence medical groups to, at least, take a neutral stance. We
must see to it that they fail in this effort through prayer, advocacy
and speaking out for the protection of those whose lives are at risk.
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Greg Schleppenbach is Associate Director for the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. To read the U.S. bishops' 2011 policy statement on assisted suicide and related resources, visit
