Victory for Life in Maryland: Bill That Would Legalize Doctor-assisted Suicide Dies with Split Senate Vote

Calvin Freiburger : Mar 29, 2019
LifeSiteNews.com

"Allowing doctors to prescribe lethal doses of addictive drugs with no way to make sure those drugs don't end up in the wrong hands or on our streets is bad policy. And there is nothing in this bill to ensure that insurance companies don't deny coverage of life-saving treatments and instead fully pay for these lethal drugs because it's more cost efficient to end life than it is to save it." -Maryland Catholic Conference

(Annapolis, MD)—[LifeSiteNews.com] Legislation allowing terminally-ill patients in Maryland to take their own lives died in the Maryland Senate Wednesday, in a tied vote that fell one short of the majority needed to pass. (Image: Unsplash-Daan Stevens)

Under the so-called "End of Life Options Act," patients age 18 years or older who have been diagnosed with a terminal disease and a prognosis of six months or less may be prescribed drugs to end their lives, provided they make the request three times (one of which must be in writing, another in private).

The measure failed to pass the House in the previous three legislative sessions but passed earlier this month thanks in part to a handful of lawmakers who said their minds were changed by hearing or witnessing stories of elderly loved ones who suffered at the end of their lives. Opponents argued that presuming to decide when lives should end was playing God and robs families of unpredictable future experiences (however brief).

"Allowing doctors to prescribe lethal doses of addictive drugs with no way to make sure those drugs don't end up in the wrong hands or on our streets is bad policy," the Maryland Catholic Conference also argued. "And there is nothing in this bill to ensure that insurance companies don't deny coverage of life-saving treatments and instead fully pay for these lethal drugs because it's more cost efficient to end life than it is to save it."

Despite Democrats also controlling the state Senate, however, the Senate voted 23-23 on the bill Wednesday, Maryland Matters reports, coming one vote short of a majority... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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