The territory for the disaster known as assisted suicide is expanding. Oregon, the state where legalized assisted suicide was born, has no residency requirement, meaning that anyone, anywhere in the U.S., could fall victim to the state’s radical law. Now, some lawmakers in the Western state want to dismantle the few restrictions on the diabolical practice.

 

In response, I decided to submit written testimony to the Oregon legislature raising my objections to the ill-conceived SB 1003:

 

My name is Maria Gallagher, and I come to you as the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, an affiliate of National Right to Life. I also come as a concerned mother, a daughter who has dealt with the health challenges of her parents, and an American citizen who is worried about the suicide tourism, which is likely to expand under SB 1003.

 

In the year 2000, Jeanette Hall was told that she had only six months to live after receiving a cancer diagnosis. But she had a doctor who believed in her, who encouraged her not to give up. Twelve years later, she was still alive and happy about it!

 

She readily admitted that, had her doctor believed in assisted suicide, she would have been dead, and would have missed out on so much of life. She expressed gratitude to her physician for giving her life with dignity.

 

The number one reason given for assisted suicide by its victims is not pain—it is loss of autonomy. They fear being a burden on others. That can be exacerbated when family members, friends, or medical professionals portray the patient as being a burden rather than a human being in need of care.

 

Shortening the existing waiting period, mandating promotion of assisted suicide by health care facilities, and broadening the definition of who can prescribe lethal drugs will only worsen a health care crisis that sees patients as problems rather than as people of priceless worth and dignity.

 

What about the patient who feels as if he or she is being pressured into assisted suicide because of the high cost of health care? What about the patient who is suffering from debilitating depression and needs treatment, but who does not receive it? What about the patient whose loneliness and fears drive him or her to want to stop living?

           

While I live in Pennsylvania, I see this legislation as a threat to not only citizens of Oregon but all Americans, since Oregon has dropped its residency requirement for assisted suicide. That makes people across the country vulnerable to this corruption of the medical field. Under the scenario created by SB 1003, health care professionals will not be in the business of healing, but of hurting, at an accelerated pace.

 

Oregon’s assisted suicide bill does not need to be expanded. What needs to be expanded are affordable health care, true compassion in the face of challenging circumstances, and a health care system that honors the value of patients, especially people with disabilities, who can become the most vulnerable in a pro-assisted suicide paradigm.   

 

Please take the course of true compassion and patient-centered care and defeat SB 1003. So many precious lives are depending on the outcome of this critical decision.

 

I am just one individual, but I believe that if we all raise our voices against the broadening of assisted suicide, it is possible to persuade public officials of the serious dangers associated with the practice. The only way for compassion not to win is for us to remain silent.

 

It is true that the push for assisted suicide has gained steam in recent months. But I believe that is because many in the media believe a false narrative about the issue. They trust that safeguards will work and that people choose assisted suicide without a hint of coercion. However, the facts on the ground are much different. The safety rails for assisted suicide are faulty, and vulnerable individuals can be pressured into seeking a final solution for their problems.

 

Caring—not killing—is the path that we should be pursuing in public policy. We must answer cries of desperation with tenderness and compassion. Despite the heartaches and hardships, life is worth living. Those who believe otherwise may be in a state of profound psychological turmoil. Recognizing that fact and ministering to a patient’s needs can go a long way toward lessening the demand for assisted suicide.

 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled long ago there is no Constitutional right to assisted suicide. The High Court decided rightly, despite intense pressure to rule otherwise. In the state-by-state battle that has followed, campaigns for assisted suicide have lost more times than they have won. The truth is on the side of those who advocate for a system that treats patients as human beings who deserve care, rather than as problem children whose only recourse is to end their lives.   

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