The Massachusetts state legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health voted to approve assisted suicide bill S.1208/H.1926 (note: the bill was amended and is now S.2745).

Why should you oppose assisted suicide?

1. Assisted suicide allows a doctor to intentionally cause the death of another person. It is done by doctors who prescribe a lethal drug cocktail to knowingly cause the death of another person.
2. Any safeguards are designed to protect the doctor, not the patient. Even the assisted suicide lobby recognizes that assisted suicide laws can be abused, in turn they promote the “safeguards” in the law. These safeguards do not protect patients who are depressed or experiencing psychological issues; they protect the doctor who is willing to cause death.
3. Doctors are human and can make mistakes. Recent data indicates that 12 million Americans are affected by medical misdiagnosis each year. In April 2013, Pietro D’Amico died by assisted suicide. After his death, his family learned from his autopsy that Pietro was misdiagnosed and was not terminally ill.

There are many reasons to oppose assisted suicide. In January 2020, Massachusetts Superior Court judge Mary K. Ames in Kligler, et al. v. Healey, et al found that there was no right to assisted suicide in Massachusetts. In her decision she found:

There is also evidence that the problem of competency is particularly acute at the time at which a patient self-administers the medication because patients may be alone or accompanied by those who support his or her end-of-life decision... In such a situation there is a great risk that temporary anger, depression, a misunderstanding of one's prognosis, ignorance of alternatives, financial considerations, strain on family members or significant others, or improper persuasion may impact the decision.

We echo the concerns of the disability rights group Second Thoughts Massachusetts that stated (read the press release here):

“It is wrong to move a bill at a time when those who will be harmed are on lockdown due to COVID-19, depriving us of the opportunity to fully address in person this threat to our health and well-being”

Decisions to request assisted suicide are made by people who are going through a vulnerable time of their life.

We oppose assisted suicide because it causes death rather than providing the needed care.

Click here to link to members of the Massachusetts state Senate

Click here to link to members of the Massachusetts state House

Link to pamphlet: Five Reasons to Oppose Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide