Good News from the American Medical Association
According to a recent article in National Review online, November 14, 2023, the American Medical Association recently had an opportunity to repeal its existing policy against assisted suicide, and euthanasia for the fourth time, the delegates refused to budge. The current policy remains in place, which states in part:
- Euthanasia is incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.
- Euthanasia could readily be extended to incompetent patients and other vulnerable populations.
- The involvement of physicians in euthanasia heightens the significance of its ethical prohibition. The physician who performs euthanasia assumes unique responsibility for the act of ending the patient’s life.
- Instead of engaging in euthanasia, physicians must aggressively respond to the needs of patients at the end of life. Physicians:
- Should not abandon a patient once it is determined that a cure is impossible.
- Must respect patient autonomy.
- Must provide good communication and emotional support.
- Must provide appropriate comfort care and adequate pain control.
History About Assisted Suicide
More than 25 years ago, Jack Kevorkian, the pathologist and well-known euthanasia proponent, was convicted of murder for giving Tom Youk a lethal injection to end his suffering from Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Kevorkian was willing to go to prison because he wanted to raise awareness of what he considered backward euthanasia laws. Kevorkian was tried four times for assisting suicides between May 1994 and June 1997.
By the time he went to trial in 1998, he had participated in more than 130 assisted deaths. In previous years, he had dodged prosecution because of a technicality—he wasn’t the one who administered the fatal dose—it was terminally ill people. Youk’s case was different—as Kevorkian had administered the deadly drug. He even went so far as to give a videotape of himself injecting the drug to 60 Minutes, who broadcast the act to a national audience.
At that time, the law was not on his side. A jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, with a sentence of 10 to 25 years, rather than first-degree murder, which might have placed him behind bars for life. He received an early release in 2007 after serving only eight years. He was on parole for two years under the condition that he refrain from helping anyone else die or provide care for anyone over 62 years old. His sole focus was to persuade states to change their laws.
At the time of his death in 2011, Oregon, Washington and Montana had come to allow assisted suicide. Later, Vermont and New Mexico followed suit. States across the country litigate this issue, craft legislation, and have discussions about this controversial topic regularly. However, it was Kevorkian, with his zany personality and dramatic disposition that brought this topic to the forefront.
What was absent from Kevorkian’s argument was assisted suicide as a biblical issue. Plus, there were many details the media didn’t cover, and the general public wasn’t aware of such as the details of a Detroit Free Press report: Sixty percent of the people who died with Kevorkian’s help were not terminally ill—and at least 13 had not complained of pain. The report also indicated that Kevorkian’s counseling was too brief (at least 19 people died less than 24 hours after first meeting Kevorkian), at least 19 lacked a psychiatric exam and at least 5 cases involved people with a history of depression. Further, Janet Adkins, Kevorkian’s first patient, was chosen without him ever speaking to her, only with her husband. He met Adkins two days before her assisted suicide. Autopsies showed five people had no disease at all.
After his release from prison, Kevorkian gave several lectures, media interviews and appearances on various programs. He was the subject of a movie, You Don’t Know Jack.
The Bible and Assisted Suicide
Despite the media’s dishonesty and laws in states and countries that allow assisted suicide, here’s what the Bible has to say about euthanasia:
- Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? Ecclesiastes 7:17
- Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
- For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
- You shall not murder. Exodus 20:13
While we are grateful for the American Medical Association’s firm stand in opposition to assisted suicide, we must remain vigilant as there are plans under way and legislation introduced in the United States and around the world that we should be aware of.
Here are a few additional examples of what happens when a society falls into the assisted suicide hole:
Belgian Doctor Euthanizes Patient with a Pillow
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/belgian-doctor-euthanizes-patient-with-a-pillow/
Dutch People Support Euthanasia for a Completed Life
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/dutch-people-support-euthanasia-for-a-completed-life/
Assisted Suicide in Georgia
On May 1, 2012, Gov. Nathan Deal signed a into law (HB 1114) prohibiting assisted suicide in Georgia, replacing a 1994 law that had been found unconstitutional.
The law provides that any person who knowingly and willfully assists another person in the commission of such person’s suicide shall be guilty of a felony, punishable by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years. If the person convicted of assisting a suicide is a health care provider, the person’s license, permit, registration, etc. shall be revoked. Click here for more information about Assisted Suicide laws in the other states.
What Can You Do to Stand Against Assisted Suicide
- Pray for this issue and keep it at the forefront of your thoughts and prayers. Appeal to the Lord for His hand to intervene
- Stay abreast of what’s going on in our state as well as across the country and around the world. Legislators are often influenced by laws in other states and countries
- Let your representatives know your stance against assisted suicide
- Share this article with others who may not know the history, the AMA’s stance or about the laws in other states
Let us pray. Lord, thank you for the opportunity to gain new insights about this topic that relates to our Personhood and the sanctity of life. Help us Lord to be compassionate toward those who are facing difficult health issues that require ongoing medical consultation, support from family and friends and long-term care decisions. We know, Lord, that you determine our sunrise and sunset. Help us to remain vigilant so that life is protected from conception to the end of life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Sheryl Sellaway
Righteous PR
Ministry Partner