Hearings set for assisted suicide legislation

By Tanya Connor
 The Catholic Free Press

A public hearing about legislation that would allow Massachusetts doctors to prescribe patients a lethal dose of drugs–so they could kill themselves–is to be held Tuesday at the State House.
The practice is legal in five states (California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont,  and Washington) and in our nation’s capital, the District of Columbia. It is variously called assisted suicide, physician assisted suicide or doctor prescribed suicide. Supporters no longer use the word suicide and have called the practice death with dignity and medical aid in dying.
Catholics are among those opposing the Massachusetts End of Life Options Act – House Bill 1194 and Senate Bill 1225. (The bills are the same.)
The Joint Committee on Public Health is holding Tuesday’s hearing to listen to the public’s comments about these bills. The hearing starts at 11 a.m. and is expected to last all day, in Rooms A-1 and A-2  in the State House, 24 Beacon St., Boston.
“We need people there” to testify or just be present, wearing anything red, to show that many people oppose the legislation, said Kristine Correira, a physician assistant from Christ the King Parish in Worcester and co-chairman of Witness for Life, a local group that was formed in 2012 in response to a ballot question seeking to legalize physician assisted suicide.
She said if enough people in the Worcester area decide to go to oppose the legislation, group transportation will be arranged.
“The more people that testify, the better,” said James F. Driscoll, executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the bishops’ lobbying arm. He also urged people to contact their state senator and representative and the chairpersons and members of the public health committee.
He suggested arriving and signing up to testify by 10 or 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. The later one arrives, the less likely a seat will be available, and the later one signs up, the later one gets to testify.
“‘Life is precious, birth to death,’ is one thing we always want to stress,” Mr. Driscoll said. “Let your voices be heard.”
Dr. Mark Rollo, a family medicine physician in Fitchburg and a member of St. Anthony of Padua Parish there, said he and other physicians are planning to testify.  Dr. William Toffler from Oregon, the first state to legalize physician assisted suicide, is also planning to speak about the problems Oregon has had from the beginning.
Even if you don’t want to speak, “certainly we’d encourage people to go to the hearing – and to pray,” said Allison LeDoux, director of the diocesan Respect Life Office.
Prayer, especially to prevent physician assisted suicide, is a focus of the annual Novena to St. Joseph at Christ the King Parish.
Monday’s novena homilist, Bishop McManus, described a statue of a dreaming St. Joseph that he has. He spoke of praying that St. Joseph will “support us in our efforts” to bring to reality “our dream” of a society where life is legally protected until natural death and people can die with dignity, surrounded by loved ones, in serenity of soul.
Novena participant Michael Mitchell, of Immaculate Conception Parish in Worcester, told The Catholic Free Press he signed a petition against the assisted suicide legislation.
Sitting in his wheelchair waiting for transportation home, he said he has multiple sclerosis, diabetes and heart problems, among other ailments.
“I’ve had a wonderful life,” he said. “If this is the worst God throws at me, he was kind.… If you’re given six months to live, that’s a blessing; you have six months to make your peace with God.”
That time period comes from the legislation, which applies to patients who have an illness or condition that “can reasonably be expected to cause death within six months.”
Mrs. Correira said that is impossible to predict; many people outlive that expectation.
Mr. Driscoll said it is possible that this legislation will not come out of the public health committee before the formal legislative session ends July 31, 2018. That’s what happened in the past and that’s what “we want,” he said.
The committee could also move the legislation on to another committee or the House and/or Senate floor, he said.
Mrs. Correira said she thinks many people oppose assisted suicide, given the positive responses Catholics have given to the St. Joseph Initiative, sponsored by Witness for Life. She said Witness for Life is dedicated to protecting human dignity by opposing euthanasia. Members work with pastors to present information about the practice to parishes through brochures, bulletin announcements and talks. So far 20 parishes in the diocese have participated.
She said another Witness for Life project that began last week is getting churches to display outdoor banners opposing assisted suicide. Five different designs are on display at parishes in Worcester and Webster.