CV NEWS FEED // As the Illinois Legislature considers legalizing assisted suicide, the bishop of Rockford is emphasizing that providing compassion, friendship, and holistic palliative care to those who are ill or dying are loving ways to help them –– unlike assisted suicide, which the bishop denounced as “false charity.”
Assisted suicide “brings with it many alarming consequences that, as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to reject,” Bishop David J. Malloy wrote in a March 12 letter to his diocese.
He explained that in states where assisted suicide is legal, there have been instances where insurance companies denied medical coverage for those with terminal illness but simultaneously were willing to pay for the cheap lethal drugs that could end the person’s life.
“Every major national organization that represents people with disabilities is opposed to assisted suicide,” the bishop continued. “Experience shows that it is especially the poor and those with disabilities who are particularly in jeopardy as they are the most vulnerable to such abuses. There is no way to prevent the vulnerable from being coerced or intimidated to end their lives once this assisted suicide is legal.”
>> Illinois legislators consider bill on legalizing assisted suicide <<
The “End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act,” the title of Senate Bill 9 and its twin, House Bill 1328, would allow “eligible” patients with terminal illness to have their physician prescribe lethal drugs with which the patients can kill themselves.
The House bill’s synopsis describes the prescription as “aid-in-dying medication,” which employs the euphemistic language that proponents often use when they argue that assisted suicide gives the patients “control” over when they die. This control, many proponents argue, provides a dignified and compassionate remedy to the great distress and suffering caused by terminal illness.
In his March 12 letter, Bishop Malloy noted that the American Medical Association has stated that assisted suicide is “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer” and poses grave risks to society.
Catholic hospitals and Catholic healthcare have provided a witness of compassion for those suffering and for their families, the bishop wrote.
“In this way we show our love and respect for the gift of human life and the dignity even of those who are ill or suffering,” Bishop Malloy stated.
Modern medical technology and progress offers even more comfort to those nearing the end of life, through holistic palliative care that specializes in supporting the person physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.
“Assisted suicide is clearly not the compassionate solution for those who are suffering,” he wrote. “Through palliative care, expanded access to mental health care, and stronger family and community support, providers and families are finding better ways to accompany these people compassionately that truly confers the love for, and dignity of, each human life.”
Bishop Malloy encouraged the faithful to consider praying and fasting for the defeat of the deadly legislation and to contact their elected officials to vote against it.
According to news outlet WIFR, the bishop’s letter was set to be shared over the weekend of March 15-16 at all parishes in the diocese.