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BACKGROUND
Assisted suicide refers to a suicide committed with the assistance from another, usually a physician. In the medical sense, assisted suicide occurs when physicians knowingly and intentionally prescribe lethal drugs to patients, so that the patients can then kill themselves. During an assisted suicide, the patient self-administers the means of death, whereas in euthanasia, the physician administers the means of death. Currently, assisted suicide is legal in Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. The states of Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana, California, Colorado, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia have also legalized it.
Rhetoric is often employed that assisted suicide is “my choice” and that “my decision will not harm others.” However, the fact that a person is making a choice does not mean that what the person is choosing is right or good. If the person is harming themselves or if the well-being of others is also at stake, then society has a legitimate interest in intervening. The lives of those who are suicidal in the emergency room matter just as much as the lives of patients who are terminally ill. Neither group should be allowed to kill themselves. Yet if assisted suicide is legalized, it becomes a viable end-of-life option for everyone eligible, not just for those who explicitly request it. It creates a culture in which patients may feel guilty about actual treatment since the “efficient option” of assisted suicide is also available.
Proponents attempt to portray assisted suicide as a “compassionate option.” It is choice to which terminally ill patients should be entitled. In fact, instead of using the term assisted suicide, they rely on euphemisms like “death with dignity” and “aid-in-dying.” Yet these terms just hide what is really occurring: patients are killing themselves with the help of physicians. In reality, assisted suicide is not a compassionate option. Instead of accompanying patients during illness, it gives up on them. It is about upholding a particular idea of which lives are worth living, as opposed to upholding the sanctity of all human life. In the vast majority of cases, people who commit assisted suicide do so because they are dissatisfied with their quality of life, not because they are experiencing unmanageable pain. In this sense, assisted suicide is a direct threat to the elderly, the poor, the sick, and the disabled. Because these people are not experiencing what society has deemed to be an optimal quality of life, advocates claim that they should be allowed to kill themselves.
In New York, the “Medical Aid in Dying Act” (A.2383/S.3151) is the pending bill that would legalize assisted suicide. The court case Myers v. Schneiderman was a NY lawsuit that sought to recognize a right to assisted suicide in New York. Fortunately, the New York State Court of Appeals recently held that there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide. However, the fight in the state legislature is not over yet. Please read the information below on ways to take action.
Our brief in Myers v. Schneiderman case can be found here.
THE CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE
Because assisted suicide is not an option, the Catholic Church envisions an alternative. It calls upon Catholics and society at large to come to the aid of those who suffering. It urges people to recognize the fact that real human dignity is not dependent on qualities or ability. When people are terminally ill, they are to be provided with the appropriate palliative care, necessary medical treatment, and moral support. They are to be accompanied through their journey of suffering. That is what the current health care system should be aiming towards, not offering patients the "compassionate option" to kill themselves.
Every human life is sacred because it involves the creative action of God and it remains in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end (CCC 2258). God alone, the author of human life, rightly decides the end of human life. As such, there are no circumstances under which a person may take his or her own life, or take the life of another innocent person. Because assisted suicide causes the death of an innocent human person, Catholics and Catholic institutions may never condone or participate in it in any way. Assisted suicide is simply a morally impermissible form of killing, even though those participating in it believe that they have legitimate reasons.
In their statement on assisted suicide, the U.S. Catholic Bishops declare that life has meaning, even if one is terminally ill, suffering, or at the end-of-life. They offer words of reflection:
A caring community devotes more attention, not less, to members facing the most vulnerable times in their lives. When people are tempted to see their own lives as diminished in value or meaning, they most need the love and assistance of others to assure them of their inherent worth…No one should dismiss this time as useless or meaningless. Learning how to face this last stage of our earthly lives is one of the most important and meaningful things each of us will do, and caregivers who help people through this process are also doing enormously important work. As Christians we believe that even suffering itself need not be meaningless—for as Pope John Paul II showed during his final illness, suffering accepted in love can bring us closer to the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice for the salvation of others.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Form your conscience on end-of-life decisions
+A guide for end-of-life decisions
+Guidance for End-of-Life Decision Making
+Bulletin flyer about end-of-life decisions (also in Spanish)
+Health care proxy form
Learn the facts
+Comprehensive resources from the USCCB on assisted suicide
+Assisted suicide video testimonies **highly recommended**
+Stop Assisted Suicide: Resources from the NYS Catholic Conference
+Brochure on assisted suicide (also in Spanish)
Contact New York State legislators
+Urge legislators to oppose the “Medical Aid in Dying Act”
+Write to legislators, meet with them, and attend their public events
Spread the word to others
+Host events at parishes, especially through pro-life groups
+Join the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide
+Attend our upcoming events
Seek out Catholic end-of-life care
+National Catholic Bioethics Center: Consultations for end-of-life concerns
+Caring for Loved Ones at Life's End
+Calvary Hospital
+Rosary Hill Home
+Friends of St. John the Caregiver
THINKING OF ENDING YOUR LIFE?
CLICK HERE OR DIAL 1-800-273-8255
Life is worth living, even if a person is terminally ill. Pray for all those who are at the end-of-life. The USCCB has prepared the intercessory prayer below.For the oldest man who in sickness
approaches death: that in his
weakness we may find strength,
and in his suffering see the cross
of Christ;
We pray to the Lord:
For those who have grown very old,
especially elderly parents and
godparents: that the love and respect
of their children might sustain them
and bring them joy;
We pray to the Lord:
For all who live in nursing homes,
and especially for those who are alone
or in pain: that we might cherish the
gift of their wisdom, and the perduring
example of their faith;
We pray to the Lord:
For families who have grown very old:
that we might rejoice in the gift of
theirpresence and cherish their wisdom;
We pray to the Lord:
For those who have grown very old,
and especially for those tempted to
die:that God might grant them
patient endurance to do his will and
serve his Gospel;
We pray to the Lord:
For all who are about to die: that
through our love, care, and devotion,
they might know the beauty of life, to
the moment of their final breath;
We pray to the Lord:
For all who are about to die,
and for their families: that God might
gently lead them home;
We pray to the Lord:
For those who are dying:
that they may await your call
with calm and dignity;
We pray to the Lord:For those who have grown old or
weak: that we might see God's
power in their fragility;
We pray to the Lord:For those struggling with terrible
diseases: that each day might be a new
revelation of God's love for them;
We pray to the Lord:For those for whom death is near:
that all their days of walking with
the Lord might show them the way home;
We pray to the Lord:For those tempted to despair by
constant pain: that they might join
their suffering to the Cross of Christ;
We pray to the Lord:
