Victory: New Hampshire assisted suicide study bill defeated.

Alex Schadenberg

Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Nancy Elliott, the Chair of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition USA reported that the New Hampshire assisted suicide / euthanasia study bill SB426 was clearly defeated by a bi-partisan vote 174 - 123.

Elliott warned New Hampshire citizens that SB426 was a trojan horse designed to lead to the legalization of assisted suicide and possibly euthanasia in New Hampshire.

Elliott, who is a former three term New Hampshire representative stated in a recent article:

We have studied this topic extensively in New Hampshire. This bill [in its original form, without the proposed House amendment] talks about end of life choices, but singles out “Aid in Dying” – a euphemism for assisted suicide and euthanasia. It is apparent that the “choice” that this bill wants to promote is suicide. By rolling this into a commission stacked with pro-euthanasia people, this idea can be foisted on the citizens of New Hampshire. It gives a platform for pro-assisted suicide / euthanasia advocates to have a platform to push this with. 

[I saw] in my time in the New Hampshire State House where these commissions used their power to bring in huge hybrid bills and push things on the state that are not necessarily vetted well by legislators, only [by] commissions. These commissions are stacked with what they call stakeholders, generally supporters of extensive changes to our laws. 

Nancy Elliott

Elliott has become a leader in the movement to protect people from assisted suicide. Elliott recently explained why assisted suicide is so dangerous:

Assisted suicide/euthanasia is abusive in its very nature. To suggest that someone kill themselves is abuse, and that is exactly what we do when we put these laws in place.

[Assisted suicide] laws are ripe for elder abuse. Generally, your heir can sign you up [for advance directives] and speak for you. There is no witness required at the death [caused by prescribed-suicide drugs], so if the lethal dose was given against the patient’s will, no one would know. And then the death certificate is falsified to say the person died of natural causes, leaving any prosecution for wrongdoing impossible. 

It is also aimed at people with disabilities. While young healthy people are counseled against suicide, people with disabilities are encouraged to commit suicide. Think about it: just having a doctor or nurse suggest that you might want to consider suicide is abusive.

Another huge problem is that doctor predictions [about life expectancy with terminal illness] can be wrong. Many people are alive years and decades after they were told there was no hope. With assisted suicide and euthanasia on the table, they could throw away their lives. In Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal, state-run Medicaid Insurance has denied coverage for medical treatment while offering to pay for a lethal dose of drugs. This should send a chill up all our spines. Oregon also seems to be showing signs of suicide contagion; rates have risen since legalization.

Assisted suicide /euthanasia are dangerous public policy and should be rejected. This proposed commission is just a Trojan Horse to bring these policies to New Hampshire.

EPC-USA is hosting a leaders meeting on Monday, May 23 in Washington DC. For more information email: info@epcc.ca