John Kelly, a disability rights activist with Second Thoughts Massachusetts, has an article in the Newark (New Jersey) Star Ledger that does a masterful job of cutting through the sentimentality and the shallow idea of compassion behind the selling of assisted suicide laws. Sadly, some individuals have bought the idea that living until their natural deaths will hold nothing but suffering, something that is not true unless they, their doctors, their families, and their states make it so. Even sadder is the fate of those not in the limelight, perhaps not as supported by family or as strong willed as the proponents of assisted suicide seem to think they themselves are. Kelly shows exactly how these people are increasingly being cajoled, pushed, and steered towards a premature death, that on the surface seems cheaper and easier for them, their families, and whatever commercial or government entity pays the cost of the care they would need to live. He makes a cogent case that a deeper examination reveals the opposite. Assisted suicide, in fact, puts everyone in mortal danger, making a mockery of the “choice” it claims to serve.
Here’s the link to this great article: