New York Bishops regret dark day state legislature approved at assisted suicide bill

The Catholic bishops of the state of New York (United States) warn about an imminent “nightmare” after the state legislature approved a measure that authorizes doctors to participate in assisted suicide.

Democrats in the state Senate voted Monday to approve the “Medical Help Law to die“, A measure that will allow doctors to prescribe medications to people with terminal illnesses so that patients can” self -adhere them to cause death. “

The measure limits the suicide option to people 18 years of age or older with “an incurable and irreversible disease or condition that has been medically confirmed.” The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, is expected to sign the legislation.

“A dark day for the state of New York”

New York joins 11 other states – California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington – as well as the Columbia district, allowing patients to put an end to their life through a medical recipe.

The Catholic Conference of the State of New York warned Monday that the measure would cause a “assisted suicide nightmare” similar to the suicide regime in Canada, which has expanded its own suicide program to include those who They cannot give their consent to the procedure at that time and where supposedly the violations of the law are not being reported. Euthanasia represents approximately 1 in 20 deaths over there.

Dennis Pous, Executive Director of the State Catholic Conference, He said Monday that the approval of the bill marked “a dark day for the state of New York.”

Pous urged the governor to recognize that the law “would be catastrophic for medically unattended communities, including color communities, as well as for people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations.”

He pointed out that Hochul has worked to address suicide in the state, but that the measure of assisted suicide “undermines those priorities.”

“The legislation approved in the Senate and the Assembly does not contain any psychological evaluation requirement for depression or other mental illness, not even a brief waiting period for people who could be despair after a terminal diagnosis,” he said.

Poust said the Catholic conference asked the Government to expand palliative and hospice care, mental health services and support for family caregivers “instead of allowing suicide assisted by legalized doctors.

Church leaders in the State have demonstrated repeatedly against assisted suicide during the consideration of the measure by the Legislature. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, last month described the proposal as “a disaster about to occur” and a “terrible idea” that “puts everything that society knows and believes about medicine.”

The State Catholic Conference He urged voters last year To express its to measure, qualifying the proposal as “another attack on human life here” and “dangerous for patients, caregivers and vulnerable populations.”

Delaware is the most recent state to legalize assisted suicide. Last month, state governor Matt Meyer signed a bill that legalizes suicide assisted by doctors for adults with terminal diseases and a forecast of six months or less life.

Earlier this month, on the other hand, a bill to legalize the suicide assisted by doctors in Illinois was not subjected to a vote in the Senate before the legislature was built on June 1, effectively stopping its progress for the session in the middle of a strong opposition of the main Catholic voices of the state.

Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.