Polls show that a vast majority of Americans support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. This makes sense, if only because our culture has made absolute personal autonomy sacrosanct and bought into the idea that we have no business telling others how they should conduct themselves.
But for all the promise of autonomy delivered by these advocates of physician-assisted suicide, it’s clear that the claim is not all it’s cracked up to be. Indeed, for every story in which a person gets the opportunity to exercise autonomy, we hear a story from someone who is sick or vulnerable about how their autonomy was taken away.
- Barbara Wagner was a lung cancer patient in Oregon. When her doctor wrote her a prescription for a drug that would slow the progress of her cancer and allow her to live comfortably, the insurance company denied her request and instead offered to pay for assisted suicide.
- Randy Stroup was a 53-year-old man from Oregon with prostate cancer. When he applied for state assistance paying for a drug to treat his cancer, he was met with a letter offering to pay for assisted suicide instead.
- Stephanie Packer is a wife and mother of four in California who fought for months on end to have her insurance company approve a less toxic form of chemotherapy drug to treat her terminal Scleroderma. About two weeks after California legalized physician-assisted suicide, Stephanie was informed by her insurance company that while the chemo she desired was not an option, physician-assisted suicide was.
- How’s that for autonomy?
It turns out that when death becomes a medical option, insurance companies will use it as a way to save money. When that happens, the individual’s autonomy has been stolen, not enhanced. Their choice has been taken away, not honored.
The above examples illustrate the plight of those who wanted to be comfortable and who wanted to be alive. They wanted to exercise their autonomy to extend their life, but their wishes were rejected in favor of a cheaper option.
And so it will go. The persons whose autonomy will be stolen will be poor people (who are not paying into healthcare), the elderly (who won’t live as long), and the disabled (who need recurrent, expensive medical intervention). The decision between extended life and hastened death becomes a cost-benefit analysis conducted by a third party pay source.
Yet more and more states are voting in favor of physician-assisted suicide. In 2015, more than 20 states proposed bills allowing for it, and a dozen proposed bills in 2016. California made the practice legal in 2015, joining Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and Montana. Colorado just voted via referendum to enact the practice, and the District of Columbia has recently green-lit a law allowing it as well. 2017 promises another raft of bills that would legalize the practice.
As the calendar turns to 2017 and legislative sessions commence, capitol buildings around the country will be filled with teary-eyed family members reciting anecdotes from family members and other loved ones who had to watch their grandparents or other friends endure immense suffering at the end of their lives. If only they could have chosen to end their lives, we will hear, they could have regained their autonomy and died with dignity. While emotional testimonies can help sway public opinion, they are not the ideal basis for establishing laws.
In order to properly examine and address the issue of physician-assisted suicide, we need to see through the rhetoric used by advocates of the practice and honestly confront some of the dangers.
We can begin by acknowledging that, as the above examples demonstrate, physician-assisted suicide often steals the very autonomy that is promises to deliver.
Cullen Herout is a pro-life, pro-family writer. He has a passion for writing about life issues, Marriage, fatherhood, and creating a culture of life. He also hosts a pro-life radio show, which can be heard here. Follow him on Facebook here or at his blog, Ready To Stand. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
