Friday, March 1, 2024

Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia Bill Dead for the Year

two men at a podium, american and maryland flags behind themTo view full article click here.

by Sapna Bansil, Capital News Service  

Lawmakers have tabled a fiercely debated bill that would have granted terminally ill Maryland residents the right to end their lives, a setback to supporters who hoped it would finally pass this year.

Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City, said in a press conference Friday that the measure had not won enough support among the 11 members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to move forward this term. Ferguson indicated he was unwilling to bring the bill for a vote if it was likely to fail.

Monday, February 26, 2024

Medical Aid-in-Dying Bill Short on Votes, Unlikely to Pass Senate Committee

By Danielle J. BrownFebruary 26, 2024

A controversial bill for medical aid-in-dying [assisted suicide/euthanasia], which would allow qualifying terminally-ill patients to prompt their own death with the help of a physician, will likely be stalled for a least another year, as some senators “continue to wrestle” with the issue, Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Will Smith (D-Montgomery) said Monday night. [pictured left] .

The issue has come to Maryland lawmakers before, and some find it hard to decide whether to allow a physician to aid in the intentional death of a terminally-ill patient at the patient’s request.

While both versions of the bill, SB 443 and HB 403, have been discussed in committee hearings this year, neither has come to a vote yet. Smith on Friday essentially gave members of the Judicial Proceedings panel a deadline to make a decision.

Friday, February 23, 2024

Maryland Psychiatrists Oppose Medical-aid-in-dying Bill for Good Reason

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/02/23/psychiatrists-oppose-suicide-bill

Photo from last year: O. J. Brigance, a former Ravens football player who has the neurodegenerative disease ALS, waits to testify against a bill to legalize physician-assisted death last year.

This year, the Legislative Action Committee of the Maryland Psychiatric Society, an organization that represents physician psychiatrists in Maryland (excluding Montgomery and Prince George’s counties), voted to oppose the End-of-Life Option Act (Senate Bill 443/House Bill 403), which has been discussed in the Senate and House this month.

This bill would allow physicians to prescribe lethal drugs to terminally ill and mentally capable adults who request to die. The practice has alternately been known as “physician-assisted suicide,” “medical aid in dying” or “death with dignity.” However, its essence remains: It involves medical professionals as active agents in the death of patients. The bill, as written, supports a practice that is contrary to the professional philosophy of psychiatrists, our training and the reasons why we choose this occupation.

Monday, February 12, 2024

Anita Cameron’s Powerful Statement At Maryland Press Conference

 By Diane Coleman

On February 8, the Maryland Senate's Judicial Proceedings Committee held a public hearing on a proposed assisted suicide bill (SB0443). That morning prior to the hearing, the Patients Rights Action Fund organized a press conference of opponents. Anita Cameron represented Not Dead Yet and made the following compelling arguments against the bill:

I'm Anita Cameron, Director of Minority Outreach for Not Dead Yet, a national disability organization opposed to medical discrimination, healthcare rationing, euthanasia and assisted suicide.

SB 0443 will put sick people, seniors and disabled people, especially, at risk due to the view of doctors that disabled people have a lower quality of life, therefore leading them to devalue our lives.