Dear Friends,
This will be the conclusion to the topic of assisted suicide, so let’s end with the question: Why does it matter if assisted suicide is legalized if I do not participate in it?
There are many dangers to all individuals in making assisted suicide acceptable in our broader society. A society in which the elderly, disabled, and extremely sick are pressured to die is a society in which the value of human life is conditional.
The message is that life is valuable and worthy of respect so long as one experiences a certain level of pleasure and contributes something to others. This leads to what Pope St. John Paul II called the “culture of death” and what Pope Francis called the “throwaway culture.”
Sometimes people are quick to dismiss such arguments as a “slippery slope fallacy.” But when we witness the breakdown of respect for human life all around us, especially in countries and states where actions like abortion, assisted suicide, and euthanasia are permitted and promoted, it is not fallacious to recognize this development as morally evil and opposed to human flourishing and God’s design.
Very few would have predicted in 1973 that the legalization of abortion, frequently argued for extreme situations, would have led to the cultural phenomenon of “abortion on demand” for any reason or no reason at all. It would be naïve to assume that the same pattern for undermining the objective dignity of human life would not lead to similar dismissal of the poor, handicapped, sick, and suffering.
In places where assisted suicide has been legalized and is practiced, the cultural situation has deteriorated to the point of allowing death inducing medications to be given to those who are unable to grant their desire or consent to such practices.
Finally, in terms of just access to healthcare, once the precedent of assigning value to one’s life is established, government aid resources and insurance coverage will naturally begin to decrease for those whose conditions are not “worth treating.” It has already been documented that in countries like Canada people with terminal illnesses have been denied various treatments but offered assisted suicide instead. Sadly, this phenomenon of death in place of care would have a disproportionate effect on the poor.
As many in the pro-life movement have argued in recent decades, the right to life is the most fundamental right of all, since life is the necessary foundation for all other rights. Like abortion, assisted suicide is a grave evil that perpetuates the lie that the value of a human life depends on a person’s circumstances, especially whether or not he or she is still wanted by others and convenient enough for them.
As Christians, we believe that all human beings are valuable simply because they are created in the image and likeness of God. We also believe that Christ’s own passion and death forever changed the meaning of our suffering and death. Therefore, out of love for God and our neighbor, our response to suffering and dying persons whose dignity and value is under attack must be to proclaim these truths by our words and actions.
With gratitude and joy for the days ahead!
Fr. Seth