They Really are Obsessed with Death!
Some members in the General Assembly have become obsessed with death. There’s no other way to describe what happened this week.
Today, the Senate Education and Health full committee approved SB 280 (D-Hashmi and D-Boysko) on a vote 8Y – 6N - 1A, with Senator Lashrecse Aird (D) abstaining. The bill would allow a so-called medical doctor to prescribe an adult diagnosed with a terminal condition medication that ends the life of the patient (i.e., physician assisted suicide), exploiting those who are weak and vulnerable. The bill will now go to the Senate Finance Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Louise Lucas.
Here are the names of the Senators on the committee voting yes (for assisted suicide).
Voting NO (against physician assisted suicide) were Senators David Sutterlein (R-Roanoke), Tara Durant (R-Fredericksburg), Mark Peake (R – Lynchburg), Todd Pillion (R – Bristol), Chris Head (R – Roanoke), and Christie New Craig (R – Chesapeake). As mentioned, Senator Lashrecse Aird (D – Petersburg) abstained from voting, for reasons not yet known.
During the subcommittee hearing this week we heard subcommittee chair Favola say “this is optional,” “there are safeguards in place,” and it upholds “bodily autonomy.” These are the same arguments offered groups like Death with Dignity that are entirely focused on helping people die. (Contrast that with Jesus’ statement in John 10:10, “I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”)
Yet, consider this account from an article about the immediate impact the passage of a California law legalizing physician assisted suicide had on one family:
“Just weeks after California legalized physician-assisted suicide in 2015, Stephanie Packer was informed by her insurance company that the chemotherapy she requested to treat terminal scleroderma was not an option they were willing to provide, but medication to aid in physician-assisted suicide was. Packer’s insurer then offered a $1.20 co-pay for a handful of life-ending prescription drugs.”
That does not sound like she had an option.
With regards to the notion that there are “safeguards in place,” it is well established the many dangers and potential abuses associated with physician assisted suicide.
Insurance companies have already been documented telling terminally ill patients that the treatments that might save their life aren’t covered, but doctor-prescribed suicide is.
Medicine that is used to heal would become a weapon to intentionally accelerate death, which devalues the person.
It would undermine the most basic principles of our civil society by exploiting those who are weak and vulnerable.
It could also cause some patients who are given a terminal prognosis to prematurely end their life, when in fact the prognosis could be wrong. Listen to the video below of one person's amazing testimony about how doctors gave him days or weeks to live, and how God had a different plan for his life. (Note: since the filming of this video, the bill has passed the full committee.)
In places where physician assisted suicide has been legalized, data shows that the number of deaths by assisted suicide increases rapidly. For instance, in Canada, 13,241 were euthanized in 2022, a 31.2% increase over 2021, and representing 4.1% of all deaths. And a recently released report from Vermont showed the number of assisted suicide deaths more than quadrupled in the last two years.
Based on personal testimonies and the abuses that can occur, it is clear that physician assisted suicide should never be legalized in Virginia.
Visit the Walt Barbee Legislative Action Center for additional legislative information.
