Physician-assisted suicide is sadly legal in California through the so-called End of Life Option Act, which narrowly passed in 2015 with “safeguards” to ensure the law wasn’t inappropriately used. Now, lawmakers are trying to remove those “safeguards,” absurdly arguing that those measures prohibit too many people from using the method.
Physician-assisted suicide is sadly legal in California through the so-called End of Life Option Act, which narrowly passed in 2015 with “safeguards” to ensure the law wasn’t inappropriately used. Now, lawmakers are trying to remove those “safeguards,” absurdly arguing that those measures prohibit too many people from using the method.
Specifically, SB 380 (Eggman, D-Stockton) would:
- Prematurely end the existing 2025 sunset date and legislative reevaluation option years early with little to no scientific data to support this action (especially in light of the worldwide pandemic);
- Stop future oversight or evaluation of annual reports about assisted suicide requests and their outcomes. (Existing reports do not contain any data regarding complications, reasons for requesting the lethal drugs, and for the limited data provided, much is listed as “unknown.”)
- Remove the 15-day waiting period “safeguard.”
Why now? Why the rush? Why, after so many deaths during the pandemic and rates of depression skyrocketing, do we need to encourage more death now?
SB 380 is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday. For those that received an alert for your Senator this week, it means he or she sits on the Appropriations Committee. Please be sure to respond to the alert as soon as possible. Your voice speaking out against doctor-assisted suicide is very important. If the bill passes, please keep watch for critical alerts and other ways you can help defeat this bill on the Senate floor.
If you’d like to learn more about SB 380, you can visit NoOnSB380.com or read this op-ed by Kathleen Domingo, incoming Executive Director of the California Catholic Conference.