DON'T GIVE IN

NEW YORK (OSV News) -- Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York urged Empire State lawmakers to reject legislation that would legalize physician-assisted suicide.

The New York Assembly April 29 passed a bill that would allow a terminally ill adult with a prognosis of six months or less to request from a physician a medication that would hasten his or her death, which the state's Catholic bishops oppose.

In a May 29 piece for The Wall Street Journal, Cardinal Dolan praised state officials for other state efforts to prevent suicide and argued that the physician-assisted suicide bill is contradictory to those efforts.

"Which is why I am more than puzzled, I am stunned, when I read that New York lawmakers are on the verge of legalizing suicide -- not by leaping from a bridge but via a poison cocktail easily provided by physicians and pharmacists," Cardinal Dolan wrote. "I can't help but shake my head in disbelief at the disparity in official responses. Our government will marshal all its resources to save the life of one hopeless and despondent man. Yet it may conclude that some lives aren't worth living -- perhaps due to a serious illness or disability -- and we will hand those despondent women and men a proverbial loaded gun and tell them to have at it."

His "bridge" reference related to how he opened his commentary -- with the recollection of a man on the side of the George Washington Bridge "threatening to jump." It was during rush hour. "I came to a complete stop just before midspan. Horns blared, and people started getting out of their cars," but word spread about the man and "everyone's mood changed in an instant."

"Instead of being impatient, angry, in a rush, we prayed for that man and the rescue workers trying to coax him back to safety," Cardinal Dolan said. "We all rallied on behalf of a troubled man intent on suicide."

Supporters of physician-assisted suicide argue the practice protects the autonomy of individuals who are suffering in their final days. But Cardinal Dolan argued the bill before lawmakers lacks sufficient safeguards and includes too broad a definition for a "terminal" illness.

"In a recent podcast, the Assembly sponsor conceded that diabetics could become eligible if they cease taking insulin, making their condition 'terminal' by definition," Cardinal Dolan wrote. "We all know that depression is one of the five stages of grief, but the bill under consideration in Albany (the state capital) doesn't even require a psychological screening before offering suicide drugs.

Advocates of the legislation sometimes "dismiss these concerns as sectarian," Cardinal Dolan continued, adding that disability rights groups join religious ones in opposing the measure, citing concerns that "poor, medically underserved communities would be targeted and the danger that unconsumed drugs could be sold on the streets of their districts."

"The prospects of defeating the bill look bleak, and it's tempting to give into hopelessness," Cardinal Dolan wrote. "But those brave first responders on the bridge didn't give in; they worked together to stop a tragedy. Will state senators or Ms. Hochul (Gov. Kathleen Hochul) step up to protect precious human life? That is my prayer."