RFK Jr. must protect people from assisted suicide, bipartisan letter warns

RFK Jr. must act to protect people from being coerced into assisted suicide, according to a bipartisan congressional letter. Signers include Senators James Lankford and Tim Kaine.

(LifeSiteNews) — The Department of Health and Human Services must monitor states that have legalized “physician assisted suicide,” according to a bipartisan, bicameral letter. Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) sent a letter on July 9 to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., calling on him to ensure people are not being discriminated against on the basis of age or disability when it comes to physician assisted suicide.

Federal law prohibits taxpayer funding of assisted suicide or euthanasia, and the Food and Drug Administration has not approved any drugs for use in killing purportedly terminally ill people. The legislators cite five lawsuits from End Assisted Suicide “alleging that physician-assisted suicide laws unconstitutionally discriminate against people with life-threatening disabilities because it treats them differently from non-disabled patients who report suicidal ideation to a medical provider.” “Annual state reports have shown that patients seeking assistance in ending their lives commonly do so, not due to pain or concerns about future pain, but for disability-related reasons, citing concerns about ‘loss of autonomy,’ being ‘less able to engage in activities,’ and ‘loss of dignity,'” the letter notes.

“Consequently, many individuals with disabilities warn that states legalizing physician-assisted suicide send the message that the lives of persons with disabilities are less valued in society.” People with mental health issues may be coerced into taking their own lives for fear of burdening others or because they are not in the right state of mind. The letter states: There are grave informed consent issues within physician-assisted suicide.

Patients spend little time with the physician providing physician-assisted suicide relative to the course of their disease. Only 0.5% of patients received mental health referrals, even though many physician-assisted suicide patients show signs of depression, which can impair the decision-making process. The signers, which include Republican Congressman Greg Murphy, says diagnoses can often be wrong.

Murphy is a medical doctor. Other ethical issues abound; in some states, one of the witnesses to the death can be an interested party, meaning they financially benefit when the person dies. “Although physician-assisted suicide laws require two witnesses to the lethal drug request, most states only require one witness to be disinterested, meaning, one of these witnesses may be a beneficiary to the patient’s will or life insurance policy or a disaffected caregiver,” the letter states.

“Physician-assisted suicide laws do not require a prescriber or any witnesses to be present when the patient self-administers the drugs,” the signers warn. “These circumstances enable the possibility of financial exploitation.” The main Senate organizers of the letter explained their reasoning for calling for action.

Pro-life Republican James Lankford stated: “Every person has inherent worth and dignity, including those facing their final days,” “Hospice should be a place of compassion, comfort, and care, where the suffering are surrounded by loved ones and quality health care, not a place where they feel quietly pressured to end their lives through assisted suicide,” he stated. Meanwhile pro-abortion liberal Senator Tim Kaine also has concerns, although he appeared to suggest assisted suicide could be justified. “Everyone deserves to make their own decisions regarding end-of-life care.”

“Where patients are making these choices, they should be free of discrimination and coercion,” he added. Assisted suicide is legal in 13 states plus the District of Columbia. Beginning this September, people can end their life in Illinois with minimal safeguards, although various hospital systems are opting out of the law, as LifeSiteNews recently reported.

Research suggests people are being coerced into assisted suicide Assisted suicide can never be justified because it involves the intentional killing of an innocent human being. Significant research also backs up the concerns raised by the congressional letter. A 2017 report from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops found Oregon’s state insurance plan would pay for assisted suicide but not treatment.

There was another similar example cited from California. A separate 2018 report identified problems outside of the United States with countries that legalized assisted suicide. Canadian veterans were reportedly offered assisted suicide despite not having a terminal illness.

One veteran, who had post-traumatic stress disorder, called Veteran Affairs seeking help only to be encouraged to commit suicide.