Statement the Judicial Proceedings committee Re: Senate Bill 354 – “End-Of-Life Option Act” Tuesday, March 7, 2017 OPPOSE Good afternoon Chairman Zirkin and distinguished members of the Judicial Proceedings committee. My name is O. J. Brigance and I am submitting written testimony in opposition to Senate Bill 354, the End-Of-Life Option Act. I am compelled...
Read MoreWe’ve written before about how physician-assisted suicide actually plays out and how undignified it really is for patients. In that piece, we detail the typical prescription a patient receives to kill themselves – between 90-100 pills (9-10 grams) of a barbiturate called Seconal. For a drug that is normally prescribed in doses of 100 mg...
Read MoreThe fact that no major nationwide disability rights group supports physician-assisted suicide should be a clear sign that there are significant problems associated with the legislation that’s been filed in Maryland. In many cases, people with disabilities have faced systemic discrimination in the healthcare system, often with healthcare professionals and other caretakers who do not...
Read MoreAs the General Assembly again debates legislation (HB 370/SB 354) to legalize physician-assisted suicide, it’s crucial for legislators to understand exactly how “death with dignity” really happens. For most, it is not at all what they expect at first consideration. In fact, once they learn more about the process, it’s clear PAS is anything but...
Read MoreHere’s how to help right now Last week, legislation was filed in the Maryland General Assembly that seeks to legalize the practice of physician-assisted suicide. These bills – House Bill 370 and Senate Bill 354 – which are often referred to as “Death with Dignity” or “Aid in Dying” by its proponents are almost exactly...
Read MoreRecently, numerous accounts in the media and online have indicated that the American Medical Association (AMA) is taking steps toward changing their official policy position on physician-assisted suicide from opposed to neutral. Fortunately, this chatter is inaccurate. In fact, although the AMA is currently considering the policy landscape in the U.S. surrounding PAS, they have...
Read MoreAs the Maryland General Assembly prepares to again debate whether to legalize physician-assisted suicide, there is a behind the scenes argument about how to refer to this practice – “Death with Dignity”? “Physician-Assisted Suicide”? “Aid in Dying”? “Doctor prescribed suicide”? What may seem trivial is actually remarkably important to truly understanding the impact of legalizing...
Read MoreOver and over again, legislators hear arguments from PAS supporters that the legalization of physician-assisted suicide has not led to any documented cases of abuse. They further argue that PAS should be legalized because the legislation is full of safeguards, and because not that many people take advantage of the law anyway. However, the official...
Read MoreHappy New Year! The 2017 session of the Maryland General Assembly is about to start and we again expect legislation that seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide to be introduced. We wanted to ensure our allies were aware of the important dates of the upcoming legislative session, as well as share some helpful resources as we...
Read MoreDuring 2016, our supporters across the state did amazing work to ensure that legislation seeking to legalize physician-assisted suicide was not passed by the General Assembly. After the session was over, we continued our work spreading the messages about why legalizing “death with dignity” in Maryland would be such a big mistake. Examples from Maryland...
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