Soon, Gov. Hochul may authorize medical professionals all across New York state to dispense, upon request, a deadly cocktail of poison to patients who are deemed “terminal.” Hopefully, Gov. Hochul will veto this bill.

Although New York spends millions of dollars trying to prevent suicide, this law would make it easier to commit suicide. If the basic purpose of government is to protect its citizens, then spending money to prevent suicide surely serves that purpose while assisting suicide does not.

What is wrong with assisting suicide? Religious people of many denominations accept this truth-that your life is not about you. God, the Creator, has a plan and purpose, including when and how you will die. Medical professionals do not know when you will die, and sometimes they are wrong about what will kill you; a misdiagnosis, while rare, is possible.

Accepting God’s plan supports the dignity and purpose of all human beings. For example, someone who is suffering from a terminal illness, through the good care that person may receive from others, is capable of teaching others about compassion, love and unselfishness. Someone’s suffering, and the resulting powerlessness of friends and family members, can unite a community to find a cause and, eventually, a cure (i.e., Polio, Smallpox, Tuberculosis).

Those who object will say, “Don’t impose your religion upon me.” But that argument fails to acknowledge that every law comes from some religious or ideological point of view. For example, murder is a crime because of the divine law, God’s prohibition, “Thou shalt not kill,” and, because of this natural law, we have rationalized and observed throughout history and culture that the intentional killing of an innocent human life is wrong. As another example, New York’s ban on drilling for natural gas comes from a climate ideology that New York state alone can affect global climate change.

Even if you aren’t religious, there are strong arguments against assisted suicide. This law would introduce fatal drugs into our communities without any oversight. Don’t we have enough problems already with fentanyl? Greedy family members, who can’t wait for their relatives to die so they can inherit money, need only encourage someone to commit suicide to “end their suffering.” Many states and countries that authorized assisted suicide for an initially limited purpose have already expanded its use to the disabled, the infirm and the mentally ill. Many are concerned that the government might be tempted to expand the availability of suicide to reduce its Medicaid end-of-life costs.

Additionally, palliative care availability provides compassionate and comfortable care to the terminally ill. Rather than enabling suicide, New York should increase funding for Hospice and similar sources.

If you believe the government should protect its citizens, that society should do all it can to eliminate suffering and not the sufferer, then please reach out to Gov. Hochul and ask her to veto the assisted suicide bill (A.136/S.138).

Phone number: 1-518-474-8390

Contact Form: https://www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form

Assemblyman Molitor represents the 150th Assembly District, encompassing all of Chautauqua County. For more information on Assemblyman Molitor, please follow him on Facebook.