I am saddened the New York State Assembly has voted to legalize physician-assisted suicide, even despite the courageous opposition of common sense Democrats in the Assembly who have fought this sickening bill from passing for so many years.
I urge all who oppose this extreme and horrifying legislation to join me in voicing your concerns to your state senator and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to oppose Senate Bill 138. While the bill is cloaked in language of compassion, it will further erode respect for the dignity of each and every life and put at risk our most vulnerable. The unintended (or perhaps, in some cases, intended?) consequences are truly frightening. Will people with disabilities, the elderly and those facing serious physical and mental illness now be coerced into ending their lives as they are deemed expendable and/or expensive? We are already seeing this tragedy play out in Canada and elsewhere around the world. Suicide is NOT medical care.
Credit to Assemblyman Matt Slater for his no vote. Assemblyman Slater notes that the proposed legislation fails to include mental health training for doctors who participate in killing a patient in their care, nor does it include a mandatory referral for mental health services. Instead of passing this horrific legislation, we should instead put our resources into palliative care and mental health services for those who face terminal illness and want to end their life. New York State remains dead last in palliative and hospice care.
We have seen how the slippery slope argument has played out surrounding the abortion debate. Not long ago, President Clinton tried to find a middle ground on the issue, declaring abortion should be “safe, legal and rare” and now we have legal infanticide with abortion on demand up until the moment of birth in many parts of the country, including New York. While proponents of physician assisted suicide claim the law will only apply to those who are terminally ill, it is only a matter of time until the law is expanded to include other categories of “difficult cases,” making more and more human beings expendable.
Today, I call on the New York State Senate to stop devaluing life and to stand up for people with disabilities, the elderly and those with serious illnesses by rejecting going further down the road of the culture of death. Let’s instead advocate for policies that are truly compassionate and give those facing these situations hope and real dignity at the end of lives, by rejecting despair and embracing their infinite value in the image of their Creator.