“Reluctantly” is the word that gives us hope that legalization of assisted suicide in NJ can still be defeated, although, frankly, the chances are not as good as we would like, and NJ governor Christie, who has said he will veto any assisted suicide bill, will likely be called upon to do that.
Here is a link to the Newark Star Ledger article about yesterday’s testimony and vote, the article that uses the word “reluctantly:
We hear, but cannot confirm, that the committee received many more emails and tweets from opponents of the bill than from proponents.
It is not too late to communicate with the senators, urging them to vote no on this dangerous bill, keeping your statement short and referencing the fact that this is a bill that will destroy true choice and true dignity for people with disabilities, including disabilities associated with aging, people with greedy heirs the law allows to be alone with them at the time they ingest the lethal dose, people with wrong prognoses, people with suicidal thoughts engendered by depression or existential angst, and people dependent on state insurance programs like Medicaid.
Please remember to cite practical, not religious, reasons. Always keep in mind that the proponents of this bill have been very successful with the strategy of saying that opposition to assisted suicide is solely a matter of religious people’s trying to oppose their beliefs on everybody.
It is also better not to talk about palliative care, because the proponents will just agree with you and say assisted suicide should be another option. Also palliative care can be abused and is being cited disturbingly as a way to cut health care costs.
The process is cumbersome but worth it. You have to go to this link: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/Selectmun.asp, then select a municipality, then enter your information and your comment. You do not have to be a citizen of New Jersey, but if you are your opinion will obviously hold more weight. Here are the municipalities of the three committee senators who said they will vote against the bill on the floor but who will be under pressure to change their minds if there is any doubt of the final vote count, just as they were under pressure from Senate President Stephen Sweeney to pass the bill out of committee despite their concerns. Sweeney says he is going to conduct an “educational campaign” in the three days before the vote. Translate that as an arm-twisting campaign. Ask these senators not to be “educated” in that way:
Jim Whelan (Atlantic)
Robert Gordon (Bergen)
Joseph Vitale (Middlesex)
The really dedicated can search for each senator by name and get the municipalities that way. We are going to do that.
We were going to write that you could tweet these guys, but one after the other twitter feed has been disabled.