8 Reasons Why Colorado Voters Should Vote Against Legalizing Assisted Suicide

State   |   Jeff Hunt   |   Aug 25, 2016   |   6:13PM   |   Denver, CO

Doctor-assisted suicide is a horrible idea for Colorado. Though its proponents promote doctor-assisted suicide as “death with dignity,” doctor-assisted suicide is anything but dignified. It is motivated by crass economic considerations — motivations like “we’ll pay for your poison, but not your healing medicines” or “we’re here to end your life, not heal you.”

The truth is that doctor-assisted suicide amounts to eugenics for the infirm, but with the government’s stamp of approval. Tragically, patients must now worry that doctors in many jurisdictions are no longer necessarily committed to “first do no harm” but to “first consider assisted suicide.” Physician-assisted suicide is dangerous for a myriad of reasons and should be aggressively resisted.

Michael Norton, Centennial Institute Fellow and President of the Colorado Freedom Institute, gives eight reasons why doctor-assisted suicide should be opposed:

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  1. All human life, including the lives of those who are elderly, infirm, or disabled, should be preserved and protected.
  2. The integrity of the medical profession should be preserved and protected.
  3. Depression and mental health reasons, not pain relief, are significant motivators in requests for physician-assisted suicide.
  4. Misdiagnoses or inaccurate prognoses can lead to faulty decisions to request physician-assisted suicide.
  5. In states where assisted suicide has been legalized, there is little oversight of the process and the medications prescribed.
  6. Cost savings are not a legitimate reason to permit suicide by doctor.
  7. The suggestion that suicide is the “dignified” way to die is offensive to the thousands of Americans who die naturally and with dignity each year, as well as to those who care for them.
  8. The slope is indeed slippery.

Read the full policy brief – Suicide by Doctor: What Colorado Would Risk on the Slippery Slope of Physician-Assisted Suicide here.

Watch a discussion on doctor-assisted suicide with community leaders, including leaders from the disabled community.

Coloradans have an important decision to make regarding physician-assisted suicide this November. It’s important to recognize that the legalization of physician-assisted suicide harms all Coloradans.

LifeNews Note: Jeff Hunt is the director of the Centennial Institute.

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