Maryland: Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia Bill Dead for the Year

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by Sapna Bansil, Capital News Service  

Lawmakers have tabled a fiercely debated bill that would have granted terminally ill Maryland residents the right to end their lives, a setback to supporters who hoped it would finally pass this year.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City, said in a press conference Friday that the measure had not won enough support among the 11 members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to move forward this term. Ferguson indicated he was unwilling to bring the bill for a vote if it was likely to fail.

“For this year, it’s certainly over,” said Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Will Smith, D-Montgomery, noting the bill would have fallen one or two votes shy of passing his committee.

Medical Aid-in-Dying Bill Short on Votes, Unlikely to Pass Senate Committee

 By Danielle J. Brown, February 26, 2024

A controversial bill for medical aid-in-dying [assisted suicide/euthanasia], which would allow qualifying terminally-ill patients to prompt their own death with the help of a physician, will likely be stalled for a least another year, as some senators “continue to wrestle” with the issue, Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Will Smith (D-Montgomery) said Monday night. [pictured left] .

The issue has come to Maryland lawmakers before, and some find it hard to decide whether to allow a physician to aid in the intentional death of a terminally-ill patient at the patient’s request.

While both versions of the bill, SB 443 and HB 403, have been discussed in committee hearings this year, neither has come to a vote yet. Smith on Friday essentially gave members of the Judicial Proceedings panel a deadline to make a decision.

Canadian Doctors Admit Covid ‘Booster’ Shot Paralyzed Woman, Offer to Euthanize Her to ‘Make Up for It’

Canadian doctors have admitted that a Covid “booster” shot from Moderna is responsible for a young Ontario woman now being paralyzed for the rest of her life.

37-year-old mother Kayla Pollock is now paralyzed from the neck down after receiving the mRNA injection and says her life has become a “living hell.”

According to a report from The Liberty Daily, however, doctors have offered to “make up for it” by euthanizing the young mom.

Washington Post Exposes the Expansion of Canada's Euthanasia Law

 By Lisa Blumberg

The broadening of eligibility under the Canada’s euthanasia law to include people who are deemed to suffer from “untreatable mental illnesses” has been delayed once again. The expansion had been scheduled to take effect in March. According to the New York Times, the postponement occurred because a parliamentary committee concluded that there are not enough doctors, particularly psychiatrists, in the country to assess patients with mental illnesses who want to end their lives and to help them do so. The Canadian Health Minister Mark Holland stated that “the system is not ready, and we need more time.” He did not give any new effective date for the expansion, although a committee member expressed the hope that the delay would be indefinite.

Maryland Psychiatrists Oppose Medical-aid-in-dying Bill for Good Reason

 https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/02/23/psychiatrists-oppose-suicide-bill

Photo from last year: O. J. Brigance, a former Ravens football player who has the neurodegenerative disease ALS, waits to testify against a bill to legalize physician-assisted death last year.

This year, the Legislative Action Committee of the Maryland Psychiatric Society, an organization that represents physician psychiatrists in Maryland (excluding Montgomery and Prince George’s counties), voted to oppose the End-of-Life Option Act (Senate Bill 443/House Bill 403), which has been discussed in the Senate and House this month.

This bill would allow physicians to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill and mentally capable adults who request to die. The practice has alternately been known as “physician-assisted suicide,” “medical aid in dying” or “death with dignity.” However, its essence remains: It involves medical professionals as active agents in the death of patients. The bill, as written, supports a practice that is contrary to the professional philosophy of psychiatrists, our training and the reasons why we choose this occupation.

Delaware Talking Points

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

“Aid in Dying” has been a euphemism for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia since at least 1992.

Per the American Medical Association, "physician-assisted suicide" occurs when a doctor facilitates a patient’s death by providing the means or information to enable a patient to perform the life-ending act. "Euthanasia" is the administration of a lethal agent by another person.

Persons assisting a suicide can have an agenda. Reported motives include: the “thrill” of getting other people to kill themselves; a desire for sympathy and attention; and wanting to see someone die.

Canadian Bill C-62 Regarding Mental Illness

Federal Bill C-62 seeks to amend Canada's Criminal Code, to provide that persons are not eligible, until March 17, 2027, to receive medical assistance in dying “if their sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness” continues its legislative journey.*

The adoption of a motion this week allowed this Bill to be expedited. Note that there was a failed attempt by the Bloc Québécois to add the issue of advance requests to C-62.

We thank psychiatrists Pierre Gagnon and Sonu Gaind who spent  Valentine's evening participating in the only meeting of the Standing Committee on Health studying the Bill.

West Virginia Proposes Constitutional Protection From Medically-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

House Joint Resolution 28

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia amending Article III thereof by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-three, relating to the protection from medically-assisted suicide or euthanasia in West Virginia; numbering and designating such proposed amendment; and providing a summarized statement of the purpose of such proposed amendment.

Nine States Have Strengthened Their Laws Against Assisted Suicide

Alabama Governor
Kay Ivey

By Margaret Dore, Esq., MBA

In the last thirteen years, at least nine states have strengthened their laws against assisted suicide and/or euthanasia. They are:

1.  Alabama:  In 2017, Alabama enacted the Assisted Suicide Ban Act;
2.  Arizona:  In 2014, Arizona strengthened its law against assisted suicide.
3.  Georgia:  In 2012, Georgia strengthened its law against assisted suicide.
4.  Idaho:  On April 5, 2011, Idaho strengthened its law against assisted suicide.
5.  Indiana:  On January 29, 2024, the Indiana House and Senate supported a joint resolution opposing  and condemning assisted medical suicide.

Indiana House Resolution Opposing Assisted Suicide; Senate Concurring

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Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, the Senate concurring: 

SECTION 1. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly opposes and condemns assisted medical suicide because the Indiana General Assembly has an unqualified interest in the preservation of human life. 

SECTION 2. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly opposes and condemns assisted medical suicide because anything less than a prohibition leads to foreseeable abuses and eventually to euthanasia by devaluing human life, particularly the lives of the terminally ill, elderly, disabled, and depressed whose lives are of no less value or quality than any other citizen of this state.