Know the Facts Series: Assisted Suicide Expands Healthcare Discrimination

Our focus in these blog posts is to clarify false claims made by proponents of the assisted suicide bill before the Death with Dignity Workgroup.  We want you to take this information and be prepared to combat the misinformation used by physician assisted suicide proponents who will stop at nothing to get this passed.

One of the most insidious dangers in expanding physician assisted suicide is how it consummates the acceptance of deeply flawed end-of-life care in Maryland and across the country.  We simply do not do an honorable job for a huge swath of the population in accessing quality healthcare options in the face of terminal illness.

As we can clearly and unequivocally confirm, the flaws in our healthcare system are not uniform in their impact.  The harm of bad healthcare options, and the negative impact on overall health, disproportionately hits African Americans (scroll down to “Examples of Important Health Disparities” section.) 

We cannot ignore this fact in a debate that is fundamentally based in the development of healthcare policy.  If our concern that assisted suicide would cast patients aside is not grave enough, we sincerely hope that people recognize that the racial disparities in healthcare would stretch into the decision to stop providing meaningful end-of-life care altogether.

Until we stop ignoring the systemic problems with American healthcare, this kind of convenient fix will be irresponsibly pushed.  The failures of our society in racial justice would be consecrated by accepting defeat in end-of-life care.  Make no mistake: not everyone bears an equal burden for our healthcare system’s flaws.

Please share this information, because it represents one of the biggest tragedies to come from this assisted suicide push.