Winning! Assisted Suicide Fails in Maryland

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Arthur, Legislation in Maryland, which would have permitted physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to kill terminally-ill patients, was defeated in the Maryland Senate, in a tied vote that fell one short of the majority needed to pass. In spite of the narrow tally (23-23), this vote represents a great victory for sick, poor, and vulnerable people in Maryland, as well as for the pro-life community, both in Maryland and nationally. And, we thank all our readers who both participated in the petition and prayed for this outcome! YOUR signatures and prayers played an essential role in defeating this bill! Before the vote, I was in contact with three Maryland State Senators, including the Senate President -- so, everyone knew about your petition! And, at that time, Senate President Miller was even predicting a narrow passage for the bill (though, in the end, he, himself, did not vote for the measure). But, thank God, it was not meant to be! Sick and vulnerable Marylanders are still safe from being pressurized into taking their lives! Thankfully, there was a lot of local, grassroots opposition to this bill, but national organizations have long targeted Maryland on this issue - trying to get the state to become the seventh in the country to legalize Physician-Assisted Suicide. However, the ramifications of the "choice" propounded by those proposing the legislation were ultimately understood as dangerous and destructive. “Allowing doctors to prescribe lethal doses of addictive drugs with no way to make sure those drugs don't end up in the wrong hands or on our streets is bad policy,” the Maryland Catholic Conference argued. “And there is nothing in this bill to ensure that insurance companies don't deny coverage of life-saving treatments and instead fully pay for these lethal drugs because it's more cost efficient to end life than it is to save it.” As a Marylander, myself, I must tell you that it was a great feeling of relief to see the lives of the vulnerable, the disabled and the poor remain protected by law. However, we need to remain vigilant for next year and the year after. If such legislation were ever passed, there is no reason to assume that Maryland would not become like Holland, where one-in-four of all deaths are now induced by so-called ‘medical professionals.’ A 'euthanasia culture' obviously causes more people to want to die, as well as probably a lot of lazy, indifferent, and downright bloody-minded medical treatment. This is not something we want in Maryland (or, any other state, for that matter). So, we will continue to oppose this kind of legislation, both, here, nationally and internationally. Thank you, again, for standing strong for Life! Yours faithfully, Scott Schittl and the whole team at LifeSite PS - Please follow all of the latest stories and updates on our Facebook page. CLICK HERE and ‘Like’ us on Facebook! Thank you! FOR MORE INFORMATION: LifeSiteNews story on the MD victory: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/maryland-bill-to-legalize-doctor-assisted-suicide-narrowly-fails-state-senate-vote Learn more about the horrible euthanasia situation in Holland: https://aleteia.org/2019/01/22/more-than-a-quarter-of-the-deaths-in-holland-are-induced-report-finds/ https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/18/death-on-demand-has-euthanasia-gone-too-far-netherlands-assisted-dying