Death By Mail? Illinois Assisted Suicide Bill To Allow Deadly Drugs By Mail

In Illinois, Senate Bill 9 legalizing assisted suicide has passed out of committee and could be voted on at any point before May 31 when the legislative session ends.

The bill allows doctors to prescribe suicide drugs to people with terminal illnesses who have six months left to live, but, like every assisted suicide bill passed or introduced in the United States, SB 9 is incredibly flawed.

For starters, doctors, who are meant to promote a patient's health and well-being, are notoriously bad at predicting when a person will die. And unfortunately, the definition of "terminal illness" is not as limiting as it sounds. Last year in Oregon, eight people with diabetes were prescribed the suicide drugs, so the likelihood of people who aren't actually "terminal" killing themselves is high, and the transformation of a doctor from a healer to a killer is definite.

Additionally, there is no mental health evaluation requirement in the legislation. Despite 25-77% of people with terminal illnesses also suffering from major depression, the Illinois policy, if passed, would allow a person with a terminal illness to request drugs to kill themselves without receiving a mental health evaluation. 

While proponents of the legislation argue that there is a mental health evaluation requirement if a physician thinks the patient is not mentally competent, the latest data out of Oregon where assisted suicide has been legal since 1998, demonstrates that fewer than 2% of patients were referred for mental health evaluations. Think about that -- a person requests drugs to commit suicide, and no one is required to take the extra step of checking to see if perhaps that person, who wants to kill herself, is simply overwhelmed by emotions that may improve.

Furthermore, SB 9 offers no safeguards against coercion for the patient. There is a requirement ensuring that one witness to the request for assisted suicide drugs not be an heir to a person's estate; however, there is no safeguard preventing a person from being coerced by numerous other individuals in their life. According to the latest data from Oregon, fear of being a burden to friends and family is the fifth most common reason people choose assisted suicide. 

Coercion can be subtle. It can be the long sighs or the grumpy interactions that cause a person to feel like their existence is no longer wanted, or coercion can be overt -- an heir to the estate who pressures or even forces the patient to take the suicide drugs. Since there is no requirement for an independent witness to be present at the time the drugs are taken, and there's no requirement for a mental health evaluation, if SB 9 passes, either is possible.

Perhaps just as troubling is that the bill authorizes the suicide drugs to be sent through the mail, which significantly increases the probability that these drugs end up in the possession of a person they were not intended for -- a depressed teen or a curious toddler. These drugs are intended to kill. The risk they pose is too high to allow them to be sent through the mail.

And finally, passing SB 9 will allow insurance companies to choose to cover the cheapest option -- lethal drugs -- instead of actual health care that sustains life. In both Oregon and California, two states where assisted suicide has been legal for over five years, patients who would not have been terminal had they received medical care have been refused treatment and instead offered assisted suicide drugs. If Illinois passes SB 9, the same will be true there.

While the many issues with SB 9 should raise red flags in everyone's mind, they don't touch the heart of the issue: passing assisted suicide legislation pushes America further towards orienting society around individualism and selfishness rather than family and self-sacrifice.

According to the most recent data from Oregon, the top five reasons people choose assisted suicide are consistently: loss of autonomy, inability to engage in activities that make life enjoyable, loss of dignity, loss of control of bodily functions, and feeling like a burden on family, friends/caregivers.

Our independent, individualistic society creates the illusion that a life that is not self-reliant is a life without meaning. Many facing terminal illnesses have been overwhelmed by the weight of this lie. But in families, we learn the opposite is true. 

From the newborn baby whose every sneeze is treasured, to the sister with disabilities whose smile lights up the room, to the grandmother who teaches her grandchildren how to live well and how to suffer well -- in families, we learn vulnerability expands our hearts, and self-sacrifice brings the greatest reward. We learn that every person has value, and that the contributions that are seemingly the most insignificant are actually the most important.

Assisted suicide is antithetical to familial love and self-sacrifice for both patients and caregivers.

This is Holy Week -- the week that reminds us we are part of God's family, and that Christ Himself allowed another to carry His cross with Him to the end. What a great honor for Simon of Cyrene. As we approach Good Friday, let us pray that we recognize the gift it is to be Simon for another and that when our time comes, we have the humility and courage to allow someone else to follow in Simon's footsteps as well. And finally, let us pray that the push for assisted suicide in our country comes to an end, and that America embraces a culture of life.

Originally published at The Washington Stand