Washington D.C., Nov 2, 2016 / 04:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Representatives of the nation’s capital voted Tuesday to approve physician-assisted suicide, despite strong opposition from religious, legal and medical leaders.
“Since the time of the Hippocratic oath – which long predated Christianity – the medical community saw the profound incompatibility of efforts to end life being facilitated by a healing profession,” said Dr. Lucia Silecchia, a law professor at The Catholic University of America and a Washington, D.C. resident.
“Thus, while the Catholic and Christian understanding of the dignity of human persons, made in the image and likeness of God undergirds the moral critique of such statutes, the medical opposition long predates Christ, and the legal objections should compel anyone who observes how easily disregard for the life of one spreads,” she continued.
Silecchia had talked to CNA on Oct. 17, when the assisted suicide bill was originally being considered.
The D.C. city council voted 11-2 to pass the “Death With Dignity” bill, which would allow two doctors, who both determine that a patient will die within sixth months, to prescribe a fatal dose of medication for the patient if requested.
The bill is expected to become law. Although Mayor Muriel Bowser has not publicly confirmed she would sign it and the city council still has to hold a final vote later this month, the bill for now has a veto-proof majority.
If it goes through, Washington. D.C. will join a handful of other states in allowing for physician-assisted suicide. Legislatures in Oregon, Washington, California, and Vermont have legalized the practice, as has the Montana Supreme Court.
Legislation to permit assisted suicide is currently being considered in New Jersey, and Colorado voters will consider a ballot measure to legalize the practice on Nov. 8.
The D.C. bill was advertised as expanding the end-of-life options for terminally-ill patients, but opponents insisted that it could become a poison pill where the poor and disabled would be pressured to end their lives rather than burden others with high medical costs.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington has spoken out repeatedly against the bill as a false sense of mercy.
“A truly compassionate and merciful response to the sick and vulnerable is not to confirm these impulses by offering them a lethal drug,” he insisted in an Oct. 5 statement.
“Whether it is a terminally ill person or a young person suffering from depression, our response should be to draw them away from the edge, to help the vulnerable among us – regardless of their condition or circumstances – with genuine compassion and give them hope.”
In addition to the immorality of suicide, the bill poses other serious ethical concerns for its opponents.
Not all terminal diagnoses are correct, as patients can outlive their life expectancy by years. Thus, some patients who would otherwise long outlive their diagnosis might instead opt for an early death.
However, under the legislative measure, doctors could write a lethal prescription for a patient they barely know but deem to be terminally-ill, and if a patient’s long-time physician refuses to write them a prescription, the patient could simply look around for a doctor who will.
Also, one of the witnesses to the patient’s decision to end their life could be an interested party, which means they could benefit financially from the patient’s death.
States that have legalized assisted suicide have run into problems, such as one case in California where a terminally ill woman was told that her doctor-recommended chemotherapy treatment would not be covered by insurance, but pills for suicide would be covered.
Also of concern is evidence that many patients suffer from anxiety or depression when they receive a terminal diagnosis, and their desire to end their lives disappears when they are treated for these conditions.
Article Archive
Assisted suicide approved by Washington DC city council
Related Articles • More Articles
Cincinnati Archbishop Dennis Schnurr. / Credit: Archdiocese of CincinnatiCNA Staff, May 8, 2024 / 12:55 pm (CNA).Archbishop of Cincinnati Dennis Schnurr has been diagnosed with cancer, the archdiocese revealed this week, with the prelate set to begin preparing for chemotherapy treatment this week. An archdiocesan spokesman told CNA on Wednesday morning that on Friday the archbishop "received a post-operation diagnosis of stage 3 small bowel cancer." "His doctor noted that, generally speaking, the archbishop's health is excellent, and that is certainly a source of optimism for the success of the treatment," the archdiocese said. "The treatment plan includes a regimen of chemotherapy over the next six months, preparation for which will begin this week," the statement continued. "We ask all Catholics and people of goodwill to please keep Archbishop Schnurr in their prayers," the archdiocese added. Schnurr was installed as the Cincinnati arc...
Father Ricardo Mata. / Credit: Garland Police DepartmentCNA Staff, May 8, 2024 / 14:27 pm (CNA).Police in Texas this week announced the arrest of a priest with the Diocese of Dallas over allegations of inappropriate contact with two minors. The Garland Police Department said on its Facebook page that officers had arrested Father Ricardo Mata on Monday "on two counts of indecency with a child, a second-degree felony.""The allegations are based on reports of inappropriate contact with two juvenile victims, which occurred during a visit to a residence in Garland," the police said. Investigators are in contact with the Diocese of Dallas, the police said. Mata's bonds were set at $75,000 and $100,000, the police department said. In a Tuesday statement on its website, meanwhile, the Diocese of Dallas said that it had been "recently made aware of an allegation by a juvenile girl of inappropriate touching involving a priest.""Upon learning of the allegation last week, di...
Pope Benedict XVI on April 21, 2007, in Vigevano, Italy. / Credit: miqu77/ShutterstockCNA Newsroom, May 8, 2024 / 11:07 am (CNA).The man arrested for the theft of a pectoral cross bequeathed by the late Pope Benedict XVI to a parish in his native Bavaria is now facing time behind bars.According to CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language news partner, the Traunstein district court on Monday sentenced a 53-year-old Czech citizen to two years and six months in prison.The perpetrator, whom authorities described as a serial thief with a history of crimes across several European countries, left traces at the crime scene that led to his identification and arrest.However, local media reported that the cross is still missing, and the verdict may yet be appealed.Pope Benedict XVI bequeathed a pectoral cross to St. Oswald's Church in the city of Traunstein in Bavaria after his retirement in 2013. The cross was stolen June 19, 2023, from the church. Credit: Bavarian Police/CNA DeutschThe court ...