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Massachusetts’ “Question 2” would legalize doctor-prescribed suicide

Sep 10, 2012

Editor’s note. The following comes from “No On Question 2,” a broad-based Massachusetts coalition against the ballot Question 2,which would legalize assisted suicide in the Commonwealth.

September 10 has been designated World Suicide Prevention Day by the World Health Organization.  People agree that every suicide is a tragedy yet the idea of doctor-prescribed suicide [DPS] attempts to take hold. 

The supporters of DPS and their media allies do not use the word “suicide.”

They prefer “death with dignity,” “aid in dying”, “assisted dying,” etc.  When forced, they will say, “They are going to die anyway, so it isn’t suicide.”

“They” – the “blob of tissue” at the end of life.  “They”: the sick, elderly, and disabled, those people on whom we should be lavishing the most care.

Dr. Kenneth Stevens of Oregon, oncologist and founder of Physicians for Compassionate Care, spoke last week in various locations in Massachusetts.

He shared the story of his patient, Jeanette Hall, who had voted to legalize DPS in Oregon.  Later she received a terminal diagnosis and asked her oncologist, Dr. Stevens, for a suicide prescription. “I don’t want to suffer,” she said.

After many visits, Dr. Stevens, persuaded her to choose treatment instead of suicide. That was a dozen years ago!  Jeanette now works actively against DPS laws in other states.  She wrote to the Boston Globe recently urging Massachusetts residents to vote No on Ballot Question #2. 

Dr. Stevens reported that, since the passage of the law in Oregon, people have been denied treatment from Medicaid because it was too expensive. 

Please help prevent suicide by working for No On 2!  Visit the website!

Categories: Assisted Suicide