CV NEWS FEED // Minnesota Catholics are being called to oppose a new bill in the state that could legalise physician-assisted suicide for patients with terminal illnesses.
The Minnesota House of Representative’s Public Safety and Finance Policy Committee will hold a hearing and vote for the End-of-Life Options Act, HF 1930, on March 7.
Officials at the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC), along with numerous bishops in the state, including Archbishop Bernard Hebda, are calling on Catholics to oppose the bill, which they described as “one of the most aggressive physician-assisted suicide bills in the country.”
“Minnesota is known as a destination for good medical care,” MCC Executive Director and General Counsel Jason Adkins, ESQ, told CatholicVote. “The physician-assisted suicide bill turns our system of care into one that hastens death by requiring all doctors and APRNs who care for patients with a terminal diognosis to offer assisted suicide as a treatment option.”
Minnesota lawmakers should be advancing policies that expand the range of palliative care options and ensure the presence of adequate medical personnel to care for the elderly and those with terminal illnesses, disabilities, said Adkins.
He continued:
Additionally, if Minnesotans were better educated about end-of-life advance care planning options and health care directives, including the ability to withdraw or withhold certain extraordinary treatments, then physician-assisted suicide would likely not even be a consideration.
In a March 4 letter, the Minnesota bishops urged Catholics to take action against the bill, and to affirm “the intrinsic value and dignity of every human life from conception to natural death,” writing:
We need every Catholic to contact their legislators and tell them to create policies that improve healthcare throughout life’s journey, not those like PAS that hasten death. As a faithful Catholic, your ongoing dedication to protecting and promoting the sanctity of life will make an impact at the Capitol.
According to a February 2 MCC news release, the House Health Finance and Public Police Committee held a hearing for the bill in the final week of January. The committee voted the bill through on January 25, despite extensive written and oral testimony from “medical professionals, people with disabilities, military veterans, faith leaders, and many more,” who opposed the bill.
The End-of-Life Options Act would mandate “every physician and APRN in the state to make patients with a terminal diagnosis aware of their option to receive a prescription of lethal drugs to end their life,” and only requires the signature of one doctor to prescribe the lethal drugs.
The bill contains no mention of screening for mental health issues, no notification of family members, no presence of medical professionals when the drug is taken, and provides “few safeguards against elder abuse,” as MCC officials pointed out, adding:
Assisted suicide coerces medical providers into participating in suicides, turning the profession from one that restores and heals into one that also kills. And the option of assisted suicide for some will end up limiting the healthcare choices of the rest of us.
As Catholics, we are called to instead create principled care models that support the medical needs and human dignity of all people.
In addition, the bill has no residency requirements, “effectively making Minnesota a destination state for assisted suicide.”
MCC encourages Catholics in Minnesota to submit written testimony to the committee by 12 pm March 6, and to attend the 10:30 am hearing. Those who oppose the bill “should wear red in solidarity,” MCC officials stated.
“We need to find better ways to create a truly compassionate care system for one another,” said Adkins.
