It is often said that a society is judged by how it treats its weakest members. I reflect on that standard each time I visit my Alzheimer’s inflicted grandmother in the nursing home.
Every trip brings on a mix of conflicting emotions. It is always disconcerting to see her condition and those of surrounding patients. It also brings incredible sadness to my mom and our family. Yet, I’m inspired by the caregivers and their selfless dedication to the sick. My family, aunts, uncles and cousins are also strengthened in a common purpose.
Together, we are cemented in a solidarity that my grandmother – like every other person – has intrinsic dignity and immeasurable worth. We help shoulder the burdens of life and create a healthy society where love is stronger than death.
However, our General Assembly is currently considering legislation which would erode and eviscerate this standard of human equality. Wrapped in a faulty veneer of “compassionate care”, the bill would legalize assisted suicide.
Assisted suicide is built on a toxic premise that some lives are unworthy – and that if you’re sick or disabled enough, doctors are authorized to prescribe a lethal dose of medication. In the coldest of truths, assisted suicide places values on each life and concludes that some people are better off dead.
Fear of dying and its process is natural. It’s unwelcoming to consider loss of independence and illness, and to panic and feel humiliated at the thought of losing control and needing others to wash and feed us. However, this fear should not propel society to legalize killing. What kind of civilization will we establish if we allow fear of “being a burden” to become an acceptable justification for suicide?
A caring society will devote more resources, not less, to its members facing their most vulnerable times. It won’t prey on their fears and tempt them to see their life’s value as diminished and unworthy. The English writer G.K. Chesterton once said, “When people begin to ignore human dignity, it will not be long before they begin to ignore human rights.”
In countries and states that have embraced assisted suicide, the weak and marginalized have become endangered with an increasing pace. What started out as a limited process available to competent adults with terminal illness, has degenerated into a moral abyss. Safeguards purported to minimize risk have proved inadequate or have been eliminated over time.
Assisted suicide and euthanasia are being applied routinely to children and the mentally ill in Belgium and the Netherlands. Doctors have been given broad discretion to coerce and make decisions for patients. In Canada and in Oregon, patients have been denied sustaining treatment, like chemotherapy, but are instead offered payment for assisted suicides. In the world of scarce health-care resources, it is becoming the cheap alternative to traditionally-covered treatments. Finally, legalizing assisted suicide has undermined efforts to maintain and improve care for patients nearing end of life.
We can do better here in Rhode Island. We don’t need to discard people because they are needy and vulnerable. Instead, we need to support them and love them unconditionally. We need to invest in the type of end of life care that brings real dignity. It is up to us to create a society that pushes back on the notion that the sick, elderly and disabled are burdens to be disposed of.
Pope Francis said that, “Physician assisted suicide is a false sense of compassion and part of a throwaway culture that treats a human person as a problem.” He is absolutely correct.
Bridget Bernardo, of South Kingstown, is a junior at LaSalle Academy.
