Updated & Revised: CWA of Hawaii Stands Up to Onslaught of Physician-Assisted Suicide Bills – Join Us!
A special thanks to all of you that took action on these pieces of legislation that we alerted you to last week. Every phone call and email is desperately needed. If you have not made contact with the legislators below, please do so as soon as possible.
Update: We just got word that SB 1129 is expected to be voted on tomorrow. The rest could be any day as well, so all calls/emails are needed now.
Revision: There was a typo in the previous e-alert concerning HB 150. Be sure to use this e-alert when you pray and take action.
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You can call it “death with dignity,” “medical aid in dying” or “informed healthcare decision”, but suicide is still suicide no matter how you spin it!
There are currently six pro-suicide bills in our legislature right now that CWA of Hawaii is taking a stand on. All have been referred to committees. Unfortunately there is much support for these bills. Therefore, now more than ever, each committee member needs to hear a message loud and clear from the citizens of Hawaii that we do not support these deadly pro-suicide bills.
Here are just some of the many concerns we have about physician-assisted suicide:
- There are not sufficient safeguards against coercion and elder abuse. At least one in ten elderly people is the victim of domestic abuse, which is difficult for a healthcare provider to identify. Because any doctor can write a lethal prescription, an abuser can “doctor shop” until they find a provider willing to assist them in killing their victim.
- Oregon, the first state to legalize assisted suicide, provides the most complete data available on the practice of assisted suicide in the United States. Oregon reports that individuals primarily choose assisted suicide because of reasons related to a disability: loss of autonomy, loss of enjoyable life activities and loss of dignity.
- Modern medicine has made significant advances in pain control. Doctors now have a range of options to treat pain in terminally ill patients, including even palliative sedation as a last resort.
- Oregon reports that the dominant reasons motivating patients to choose assisted suicide have nothing to do with pain management. The primary concerns center around having a disability: losing autonomy (92%), being less able to engage in activities making life enjoyable (90%), and losing dignity (79%). Fear of inadequate pain control is one of patients’ least cited reasons.
Though there are many sound academic reasons to oppose physician-assisted suicide, as believers, the most important reason is because God, and God alone, is the author of life. We cannot take on the role of God and take life based on our inconsistent judgment.
We don’t understand why God allows pain and suffering, but we know God is good; God is love, and His ways are higher than ours. God has appointed a time for each of us to be born and to die. He is with us in all things and has a purpose for every situation that comes our way. God has a plan for each and every one of us.
Please do all you can to support God’s gift to us: life.
SENATE BILLS:
Death with Dignity, SB 1129, “Establishes a death with dignity act under which a terminally ill adult resident may obtain a prescription for medication to end the patient’s life.”
- Click here to read the bill, note sponsors and to track its status.
Medical Aid in Dying, SB 357, “Authorizes a terminally ill adult with the capacity to make an informed health care decision to request a prescription for aid in dying medication from their attending physician to facilitate a peaceful death. Establishes that an attending physician determines a terminally ill adult’s capacity to make an informed health care decision. Establishes that medical aid in dying does not constitute euthanasia, suicide, homicide, elder abuse or neglect, or cause a person to be considered a danger to self. Protects physicians who assist patients in obtaining aid in dying medication from civil or criminal liability. Makes it a felony to coerce an individual to request medication for the purpose of ending his or her life or to conceal a rescission of such request.”
- Click here to read the bill, note sponsors and to track its status.
Current Status of SB 1129 and SB 357: Both have been referred to the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health (CPH) Committee as well as the Senate Judiciary and Labor (JDL) Committee.
Action: Contact the members in both of these committees by clicking on the committee names above. Ask them to vote “NO” on SB 1129 and SB 357. Be sure to let them know that you are a member of Concerned Women for America of Hawaii.
Prayer: Please pray for each of the committee members as you contact them. Pray that SB1129 and SB357 will fail in both of these committees.
HOUSE BILLS:
Death with Dignity, HB 201, “Allows a terminally ill adult with the capacity to make an informed healthcare decision to request a prescription for aid in dying medication from their attending physician to facilitate a peaceful death. Ensures that physicians who assist patients in obtaining aid in dying medication are not subject to civil or criminal liability.”
- Click here to read the bill and to track its status.
Death with Dignity, HB 550, “Authorizes terminally ill adults seeking to end their life to request lethal doses of medication from medical and osteopathic physicians.”
- Click here to read the bill, note sponsors and to track its status.
Current Status of HB 201 and HB 550: Have been referred to the House Health (HLT) Committee as well as the House Judiciary (JUD) Committee.
Action: Contact the members in both of these committees by clicking on the committee names above. Ask them to vote “NO” on HB 201 and HB 550. Be sure to let them know that you are a member of Concerned Women for America of Hawaii.
Prayer: Please pray for each of the committee members as you contact them. Pray that HB 201 will fail in both of these committees.
End of Life Option, HB 150, “Establishes a person’s ability to choose the End of Life Option when afflicted with a terminal illness; provides safeguards for the affected person; and repeals penalties for participating in the End of Life Option Act.”
- Click here to read the bill, note its sponsors and track its status.
Current Status of HB 150: Has been referred to the House Health (HLT) Committee as well as the House Judiciary (JUD) Committee.
Action: Contact the members in both of these committees by clicking on the committee names above. Ask them to vote “NO” on HB 150. Be sure to let them know that you are a member of Concerned Women for America of Hawaii.
Prayer: Please pray for each of the committee members as you contact them. Pray that HB 150 will fail in both of these committees.
For Life!
Barbara Ferraro
State Director
CWA of Hawaii
P.O. Box 10732
Hilo, HI 96721
director@hawaii.cwfa.org
http://hi.cwfa.org
808-965-9834