This email is forwarded from the Virginia Catholic Conference who is the lead organization fighting Medical Aid in Dying, SB280 and HB858 or Murder by “physician.” This is a corruption of the Hippocratic Oath and our physician sacred oath to “do no harm.” Bills in the Virginia Senate and House will be voted on today or early next week. We must call all legislators and tell them murder is NEVER acceptable healthcare.
“Dear allies,
Unfortunately, assisted suicide legislation continues to advance. The Senate Finance Committee advanced the Senate bill earlier this week, setting the stage for a final Senate floor vote as soon as tomorrow (Feb 9). The House committee considering the House bill approved it on an 11-9 vote. There will be a House floor vote on Monday (Feb 12) or Tuesday (Feb 13) of next week.
I cannot emphasize enough how critically important it is for as many people as possible to (1) contact their state senator and delegate and (2) encourage their family, friends and anyone else they can think of to do the same. Here is the Virginia Catholic Conference alert making it easy for people to send a message to their legislators in less than a minute:
https://vacatholic.org/action-center/?vvsrc=/Campaigns/110256/Respond
This battle is far from over – let’s keep at it and stop this harmful and deadly legislation!”
If the above link does not open, please copy and place it in your browser window.
Below are important talking points.
Further, please be aware as Canada expands their Murder by “Physician” bill to include the poor and mentally ill, they are using this legislation to harvest organs. This is not fiction.
Talking Points
Insurer control: Insurers can deny even life-saving prescribed treatments. In a perverted twist, legalized suicide can be termed as a "medical treatment" or "benefit" that will always be "cost-effective."
No Mandated Treatment : most MAID laws do not require treatment for serious medical conditions, even when it is available to the patient. For example, a patient whose metastatic cancer stands a reasonably good chance of remission with aggressive treatment, but who nevertheless chooses MAID, is not required by state laws to undergo the treatment. Similarly, a psychiatric evaluation is not required unless the MAID-initiating doctor specifically requests such an assessment.
Persuasion and abuse: From family members to medical professionals, persuading the disabled or terminally ill to end their life is immoral and for doctors, would ordinarily be considered in opposition to the Hippocratic Oath. This can very inhumanely cross over into abuse. https://www.oregonlive.com/health/2015/02/physician-assisted_suicide_a_f.html http://hawaiifreepress.com/Articles-Daily-News/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3647/February-2011-Letters-to-the-Editor Suffolk Superior Court Judge Mary K. Ames issued a 2019 ruling against a state constitutional right to die, in which she stated, “In such a situation, there is a greater 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.”
Misdiagnosis: studies show that 12% - 15% of people going to hospice with a terminal diagnosis outlive their prognosis, thus a large number of people died by suicide when they were not on the verge of dying. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4118712/
Distress, not pain: existential distress/ quality of life are the more common complaints and very infrequently, is physical pain the issue. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMms1700606 However, legal palliative care/sedation addresses the pain and any reference to "pain" in a bill is a red herring.
Medical Prejudice: according to 82.4% of U.S. physicians, disabled persons have a poorer quality of life than the non-disabled. This reflects a potentially biased view among doctors manifesting in health care disparities disadvantaging the disabled. https://opmed.doximity.com/articles/his-dnr-status-was-wrong-he-died-because-of-it?_csrf_attempted=yes
Racial disparities: (for those who say they are fighting for social justice) racial disparities in diagnosis and treatment of diabetes, cancer, heart issues tend to result from medical prejudice and neglect. Any assisted suicide legislation could result in more minorities being regarded as "better off dead." https://www.npr.org/2020/07/31/896882268/one-mans-covid-19-death-raises-the-worst-fears-of-many-people-with-disabilities?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social
Depression: Dangerously, these assisted suicide laws amount to a denial of suicide prevention services to the seriously ill and disabled, violating the ADA's guarantee of equal program access. Instead of treating depression and feeling like a burden as impairments or worthy of intervention, they are redefined as rational.
Disability: distress and shame are emphasized as the hallmarks of disability; yet, human connection and meaningfulness can be found in mutual aid and interdependence. Further, dying because of distress and shame does not elevate the act of dying or the state of death to dignified or noble.
2017 NY Court of Appeals held that “suicide has long been understood as “the act or instance of taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally’… Aid-in-dying falls squarely within the ordinary meaning of the statutory prohibition on assisting a suicide. https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/court-of-appeals/2017/77.html
Increased suicide rates: if we’re calling Medical Assisted Death what it really is, physician-assisted suicide, preliminary reports suggest more suicides in the general population of states that have Physician-assisted Suicide. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26437189/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31397854/
Please call your Senators and Delegates today and please strongly consider attending sessions.
Links to all members of House and Senate Below.
https://apps.senate.virginia.gov/Senator/index.php
https://virginiageneralassembly.gov/house/members/members.php
Sheila M. Furey, MD
I'm in favor of assisted suicide in cases such as terminal illness or total paralysis.
People have as much right to die as they decide, as much as they have the right to live.