April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
LOBBY DAY AT CAPITOL
N.Y. doctors say no to assisted suicide
N.Y. doctors say no to assisted suicide
The medical professionals spoke to the media and met with State Senate and Assembly members throughout the day. Officials from the New York State Catholic Conference, which lobbies on behalf of the state's bishops on issues of concern, were also present at the lobby day. The Catholic Conference has joined with the physicians, patients' rights advocates, disabilities rights advocates, faith-based organizations and others to form the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide.
State Assembly bills 2129 (the End of Life Options Act) and 3685 (the Life Options Act) and Senate bill 5814A (the Patient Self Determination Act) would make it legal and possible for terminally-ill patients to obtain lethal medications.
Picking up speed
Physician-assisted suicide is already legal in five states: California, Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. The issue took center stage in 2014 when Brittany Maynard, a California native, moved to Oregon to end her life under the state's Death with Dignity law. She became an advocate for physician-assisted suicide. Since her death in November 2014, California has passed its own version of the Death with Dignity Act.
In New York State, doctors or others who aid in someone's suicide can currently be charged with second-degree manslaughter. Area medical professionals at last week's meeting hope it stays that way.
"The proposed legislation should be concerning to all people," said Dr. David Kim of the American Academy of Medical Ethics at the press conference.
Dr. Kim and his colleagues said they do not believe legalizing physician-assisted suicide would help achieve better end-of-life care, as proponents allege.
Instead, the doctors are trying to push for better palliative care, particularly around mental health.
Do no harm
Information from the Catholic Conference notes that "allowing people to kill themselves, with the assistance of doctors and others, devalues human life and sends mixed messages in our state's efforts to combat suicide, by suggesting that some suicides are acts filled with 'dignity.' Assisted suicide sends the message that some people -- the very sick, the frail elderly, people with disabilities -- would be better off dead."
For Albany native Dr. Sharon Falkenheimer, the idea of physician-assisted suicide is "fundamentally incompatible" with her role as a doctor.
"Our job is not to harm people, but to care for them," she said; assisting in a patient's suicide would be directly going against a physician's Hippocratic Oath.
"It destroys the patient/doctor relationship," agreed Dr. Kevin Cope, a family practitioner from Amsterdam. "Patients who are terminally ill are depressed. Depressed people are suicidal."
But depression can be helped, he said, alleviating the suicidal thoughts.
"I also believe in the sanctity of life," the doctor, a Christian, told The Evangelist. "God gives life and God takes away life."
Ill effects
The Catholic Church teaches that human life is sacred from conception to natural death. Although the Church states that Catholics are not obligated to provide or accept treatments that "entail significant burdens that are out of proportion to the expected benefits," it also teaches that "it is never permissible to directly choose to bring about one's death in order to relieve pain or suffering."
Dr. Cynthia Renauld-Lansing of St. Peter's Hospital, who is a parishioner of St. Augustine's Church in Troy, said that "it bothers me that we are promoting suicide. It influences young people."
The family doctor, who has been practicing for more than 26 years, noted that the bills being considered by the Senate and Assembly state that patients can only qualify for a lethal dose of medication if their doctors diagnose them with only six months to live.
"That's a heavy burden," Dr. Renauld-Lansing told The Evangelist. "We can't really diagnose that precisely." The Catholic Conference also notes that "patients with a terminal diagnosis may outlive the medical expectation by months or even years. Some patients may experience a full recovery. Some patients may receive an inaccurate diagnosis. Making a life-or-death decision with these unknowns is unacceptable."
Danger for disabled
Physician's assistant Tom Venditti has his own concerns with the proposed bills. He works at the Fulton County chapter of Lexington, a private agency that supports people with disabilities.
The PA, who attends St. Mary's parish in Ballston Spa, hopes to have a voice for those who might not be able to express their wishes.
"Physician-assisted suicide poses a risk for the disabled," he told The Evangelist. "I think that some people would like to not have to deal with the disabled," and assisted suicide could make this worse. "We're here to care for all people."
As the Catholic Conference puts it, "There is real potential for abuse in legalizing assisted suicide. Financial pressures from insurance companies, combined with pressures from those who might stand to gain from a patient's death, as well as family members feeling overwhelmed and burdened and medical professionals making judgment calls about the quality of life -- all of these things should raise alarms, especially in an environment of increasing abuse and neglect of people with disabilities and those who are aged."
Mr. Venditti bases his opposition to physician-assisted suicide on a simple fact: "It's morally wrong," he said, citing the Sixth Commandment: "Thou shalt not kill."
"We say we 'do no harm,'" he said, referring to the Hippocratic Oath physicians hold dear. "Physician-assisted suicide is doing harm."[[In-content Ad]]
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