Massachusetts pro-assisted suicide bill H2505 has been introduced and already cleared its first committee hurdle, moving quickly, unlike previous efforts. In April, the Public Health committee passed the bill with an 8-3 vote, and it will now be referred to the Health Care Financing committee.

This bill would allow assisted suicide, with patients making two requests — one oral and one written — 15 days apart. A patient’s physician must agree that the patient is expected to die within six months. Additionally, the written request must have two witnesses who must not be related to that patient or entitled to the patient’s estate in any way, responsible for their medical care, or working for a facility where the patient is receiving treatment.

READ: ‘Cult of coercion’: Former abortion worker exposes inner workings of the industry

“No one wants to be made to feel that dying is a better option than living because they’re a burden on their family or because their care might be expensive, and so there’s a lot of protections on this bill to make sure that people are not coerced and no one can profit from someone making this decision, and that this is really only available for people who are truly at the end of life and with very serious illness,” state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa said.

Why It Matters:

Perhaps inadvertently, one of the legislators described one of the main problems with legalizing assisted suicide.

“As end of life conditions can present themselves in a variety of different ways, people want to be able to have the option to not necessarily have to go through indescribable loss of functionality, loss of independence, loss of dignity,” State Rep. James O’Day said (emphasis added). “There are those safeguards that make sure that this is your wish, and what you need to do in order to be able to fulfill the actual protocol contained within the bill to have an end of life that has some dignity and choice.”

Safeguards aside, O’Day has acknowledged that the issue of assisted suicide is not that of saving someone from a painful, prolonged death; it’s about avoiding disability. And being disabled, having to rely upon someone else, is now largely viewed and marketed as undignified, so much so that death is being painted as a better fate than life.

However, according to numerous reports, the leading reason cited by people seeking assisted suicide is not avoidance of pain and suffering but “loss of autonomy” and fear of being a burden on loved ones. Other reasons cited are “inability to enjoy activities” and “loss of dignity,” again confirming that ableism is the largest driving force behind assisted suicide — not saving people from a painful death.

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This bill would allow assisted suicide, with patients making two requests — one oral and one written — 15 days apart. A patient’s physician must agree that the patient is expected to die within six months. Additionally, the written request must have two witnesses who must not be related to that patient or entitled to the patient’s estate in any way, responsible for their medical care, or working for a facility where the patient is receiving treatment.

READ: ‘Cult of coercion’: Former abortion worker exposes inner workings of the industry

“No one wants to be made to feel that dying is a better option than living because they’re a burden on their family or because their care might be expensive, and so there’s a lot of protections on this bill to make sure that people are not coerced and no one can profit from someone making this decision, and that this is really only available for people who are truly at the end of life and with very serious illness,” state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa said.

Why It Matters:

Perhaps inadvertently, one of the legislators described one of the main problems with legalizing assisted suicide.

“As end of life conditions can present themselves in a variety of different ways, people want to be able to have the option to not necessarily have to go through indescribable loss of functionality, loss of independence, loss of dignity,” State Rep. James O’Day said (emphasis added). “There are those safeguards that make sure that this is your wish, and what you need to do in order to be able to fulfill the actual protocol contained within the bill to have an end of life that has some dignity and choice.”

Safeguards aside, O’Day has acknowledged that the issue of assisted suicide is not that of saving someone from a painful, prolonged death; it’s about avoiding disability. And being disabled, having to rely upon someone else, is now largely viewed and marketed as undignified, so much so that death is being painted as a better fate than life.

However, according to numerous reports, the leading reason cited by people seeking assisted suicide is not avoidance of pain and suffering but “loss of autonomy” and fear of being a burden on loved ones. Other reasons cited are “inability to enjoy activities” and “loss of dignity,” again confirming that ableism is the largest driving force behind assisted suicide — not saving people from a painful death.

Follow Live Action News on Facebook and Instagram for more pro-life news.