Assisted suicide bills in the US have all been defeated in 2017.

This article was published by OneNewsNow on September 21, 2017

Last year on December 19, the mayor of Washington, DC, Muriel Bowser, signed into law the "Death with Dignity Act," which permits people to request and receive a lethal dose of drugs to end their lives. Congress, however, has the authority to review and reverse decisions made by the DC Council, and the House has approved a measure with a provision that would terminate the assisted-suicide law. The House bill goes to the Senate now.

Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition tells OneNewsNow the reaction on Capitol Hill makes sense.

"Assisted suicide is sold to us as a lie," says Schadenberg. "They sell it as about choice and autonomy which, of course, is what everybody is in favor of. But what it's actually doing is giving a doctor the right to cause your death – and it's a very, very serious situation because it's dealing with people who are at the most vulnerable time of their life."

Schadenberg says bills to legalize assisted suicide were introduced in 26 states this year and all were defeated. As recently as last week, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled there is no constitutional right to assisted suicide.

"It's not a juggernaut," says Schadenberg, "and when people look at what it's actually about, they recognize how bad it is and they actually vote to defeat it. I'm hoping that the Senate has the strength to do the same."

In Canada, assisted suicide was imposed on citizens by a ruling from the Canadian Supreme Court.