Colorado Bill Would Legalize Assisted Suicide After Brittany Maynard’s Death

State   |   Sarah Zagorski   |   Nov 17, 2014   |   1:35PM   |   Denver, CO

In October, terminally ill cancer patient, Brittany Maynard, became the face of the assisted suicide movement in our country. Brittany had stage IV glioblastoma multiforme, which is the most deadly form of brain cancer and was given six-months to live.

After her diagnosis, Brittany decided to move from her California home to Oregon so she could have access to lethal drugs to use to take her life. Oregon is one of five states, along with New Mexico, Montana, Washington, and Vermont that allow assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. Tragically, on November 2nd, Brittany legally ended her own life with a lethal dose of Phenobarbital.

picassistedsuicide8bNow, a lawmaker is proposing a bill to legalize assisted suicide in Colorado.

The Denver Channel Reports:

A Colorado lawmaker is proposing a bill to allow assisted suicide in our state.

The death with dignity bill is still being drafted but it already has a lot of people talking, 7NEWS Anchor Christine Chang reported.

Colorado Representative Joann Ginal is behind the effort. Over the weekend, Ginal talked with a group up in Fort Collins about the bill, which could be modeled after Oregon’s death with dignity law.

Earlier this month 29-year-old Brittany Maynard decided to take her own life in that state. The Colorado-based group ‘Compassion & Choices’ helped with Maynard’s end-of-life plan.

According to the Reporter Herald, Rep. Ginal said the reaction has been mostly positive but some people have expressed concerns. She says the bill will have protections and that only the patient can make the final decision.

However, what many don’t know about the “compassionate” group is that they advocate for the “right to die” for people who are not even terminal. On their website, they promote a practice called VSED, which instructs elderly people to stop eating and taking liquids if they want to kill themselves.

This is already happening in the Netherlands and Belgium where the mentally ill are being euthanized.

Even putting moral, religious, and ethical question aside, supporting assisted suicide has serious ramifications. This is because it goes too far and begs the question, “Where do you draw the line?” If a terminal patient can end their life, why can’t a person who is suffering from a severe handicap? And who gets to decide when it’s a patient’s time to die?

For now, in some U.S. states the prescription is available to qualifying terminally ill patients; but one might argue that clinically depressed patients should have access to the lethal pill because they simply cannot keep going.

For now, the pill is considered “safe” because no one can force you to take it or coerce you into it; but how can the government ensure that this will actually not occur? And for now, the lethal concoction is a “choice” for patients who are sick and want to end their life. Simply put, there are not enough ways to safeguard against abuse of this practice and it completely goes against the medical profession which vows to “do no harm.”

Ultimately, “Death with Dignity” is a step toward an ugly future, which includes killing unwilling victims because it is a “kind and merciful” act. It includes patients who are suffering with mental illness killing themselves with the help of doctors; and it includes the handicapped, elderly and sick being taken advantage of by others who wish for their demise.

In Oregon, depressed people have died by assisted suicide, and patients, who were denied medical treatment, were steered to assisted suicide by the state health plan. Oregon resident Jeanette Hall, who was terminally ill and wanted assisted suicide, is alive today because her doctor convinced her to try medical treatment.

ACTION: To help stop the legalization of assisted suicide in Colorado, contact Colorado Citizens for Life at [email protected].