Amid shock about the rampant growth of assisted suicide in Canada, the US state of Virginia successfully halted legislation that would have legalized the practice there.
A Virginia Senate committee voted February 5 to block Bill SB 359, which would have legalized assisted suicide for terminally ill patients with a determination of fewer than six months to live. The Senate Education and Health Committee defeated the legislation with an 8-7 vote. Two Democrats joined Republicans in opposition.
Medical groups and disability advocates raised serious concerns about the bill. The Medical Society of Virginia, previously neutral on the issue, amended its stance and voiced strong opposition.
Thomas Eppes, a family physician from Lynchburg and former president of the Medical Society of Virginia, told WHRO News, “Our profession needs to stand with patients from cradle to grave.”
Disability rights advocates warned that the measure could create pressure on vulnerable patients in an already strained system.
Sen. David Suetterlein (R) said the bill could create harmful financial incentives in health care, pointing to the growing influence of insurance companies and targeted marketing, and could even “incentivize the end of life through the worst form of capitalism.”
Bishops support decision
After a close vote and the ultimate halting of the bill, Virginia’s bishops are thanking lawmakers for their commitment to protecting human life.
On February 18, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington and Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond issued this joint statement:
The Senate and House bills that would have legalized assisted suicide will not advance during this year’s General Assembly session. We are grateful that committees in both chambers decided not to proceed with this legislation after weighing the grave concerns expressed by so many people throughout our Commonwealth. Many legislators on both sides of the aisle recognized the serious risks this measure would have imposed upon vulnerable Virginians – including people with disabilities, people with mental illnesses, the elderly, and those who lack access to healthcare.
Human life is sacred and no one should ever be abandoned or discarded. Every suicide results in a tragic loss that can place families, friends, coworkers, and whole communities in long-term grief. Virginia should always seek to prevent suicide, and never engage in or promote suicide.
We greatly appreciate all those who contacted their legislators to express their concerns, and we would like especially to thank those senators and delegates who advocated for vulnerable and underserved Virginians and their families.
Thirteen U.S. states and Washington, D.C., have legalized physician-assisted suicide, and at least a dozen others are considering legislation to legalize the practice.
The Catholic Church has always strongly opposed assisted suicide and euthanasia. The Second Vatican Council in the document Gaudium et Spes condemned “euthanasia or willful self-destruction” as among the moral “infamies” that are “opposed to life itself” and “poison human society.”
