October 31, 2021 - "Physician Assisted Suicide"

During the month of October we have been celebrating Respect Life Month. I want to talk today about a specific issue assaulting the right to life:  Physician-Assisted Suicide.  The next Maryland legislative session will open in January.  Powerful out-of-state activists will try to bring physician-assisted suicide to Maryland.  It is important for us to realize why this matters for us and our families.  To answer that I am going to reproduce here and slightly adapt some points made in a Parish Resource Kit prepared by the Maryland Catholic Conference.
 
What actually happens in a physician-assisted suicide?
A doctor prescribes a lethal drug cocktail – up to 100 pills – that a person picks up at the local pharmacy, grinds up into half a cup of water, and drinks in less than two minutes. Sometimes, the person can take hours or days to die. Plus, there are no requirements for a witness or notification of family. Assisted suicide isn’t dignified; it’s deadly. 
 
Physician-assisted suicide incentivizes denying cancer treatment
In states where assisted suicide is legal, insurance companies have turned down coverage for cancer treatment but offered to pay for suicide drugs instead. Stop this from happening in Maryland.
 
Physician-assisted suicide urges suicide for elderly
Elderly in Maryland have a higher rate of suicide than any other age group - double the teen suicide rate. Yet a proposed physician-assisted suicide bill would not require any mental health evaluation to screen for depression. Assisted suicide isn’t dignified; it’s deadly.
 
Physician-assisted suicide tells people they’re burdensome
In Oregon, data shows people request suicide drugs not for pain, but because they can’t do the same activities that they could before, can’t control bodily functions, feel they’ve lost dignity or feel they are a burden. Suicide drugs aren’t the answer. Everyone deserves loving, supportive care, affirmation of their dignity, and to know that they are never a burden.
 
Physician-assisted suicide is dangerous for Maryland
If assisted suicide became legal, up to 100 pills would be prescribed to a person. These lethal drugs would then be dispensed at your neighborhood pharmacy. Data shows that where assisted suicide is legal, up to 40% of the drugs are never used – and there are no requirements for their disposal. They could end up in the hands of kids, in the trash or in a local creek or pond. We don’t need that in Maryland. Assisted suicide isn’t dignified, it’s deadly.

Disability rights activists oppose physician-assisted suicide
Major disability rights groups including The Arc of Maryland and National Council on Disability oppose physician-assisted suicide. Disabled people already face prejudice from doctors and people who assume they’re “better dead than disabled.” Assisted suicide encourages this kind of prejudice. People with disabilities deserve care, not suicide.
 
Doctors oppose physician-assisted suicide
The American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, and dozens of other medical groups oppose physician-assisted suicide. The AMA says, “Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.” Physicians are entrusted with saving lives, not ending them.
 
Marylanders deserve excellent pain management, not physician-assisted suicide
Maryland has excellent, modern palliative care programs to alleviate suffering – no one’s pain should be unmanageable in our state. Hospice care is paid for by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. Marylanders deserve the best in pain management and quality care, not suicide drugs.
 
When this comes up in the next session of the General Assembly, it will be important for you to tell your legislators: NO assisted suicide. Visit mdcatholic.org/pas.
 
Let me take this opportunity to invite you to join the Maryland Catholic Advocacy Network.  Our state’s General Assembly creates laws that affect us, our church, families, and vulnerable neighbors.  The Maryland Catholic Advocacy Network keeps us informed and gives us a voice.  If you choose to join (and I hope that you will do so), you will receive occasional email updates from the Maryland Catholic Conference, plus action alerts on topics you choose:  mdcatholic.org/joincan or text CATHOLIC to 443-764-8765.
 
Until next week,
Fr. John