http://www.choiceillusion.org/2016/03/assisted-suicide-proponents-wilt-after.html From Stop Assisted Suicide Maryland
Posted on February 26, 2016
(Annopolis MD) Proponents of physician-assisted suicide struggled to answer the tough questions thrown at them at yesterday’s Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing on SB 418. The Committee met late into the night with Senators raising significant concerns with the bill and its lack of protections.
The message from proponents, led by national group Compassion & Choices, was that any protections in the law would stall a patient’s ability to get a lethal prescription from their physician. And questions surrounding these increased protections continuously baffled witnesses. There is nothing in this bill that would require a mental health screening, or ensure a physician is present at the time the lethal dose is taken. Proponents’ response to these concerns is that the Maryland healthcare system can’t support these types of mandates. This is a weak excuse when it comes to protecting our most vulnerable populations who will be at risk if this bill is passed.