PROVIDENCE — The House Judiciary Committee met on Tuesday, Feb. 11, to discuss HB 5219, a bill seeking to legalize assisted suicide in Rhode Island.
Proposed by Rep. Edith Allejo (D) of District 1, the bill, known as the Lila Manfield Sapinsley Compassionate Care Act, also suggests certain regulations to prevent abuses in the administering of life-ending substances.
Catie Kelley, an attorney associated with Americans United for Life, a pro-life advocacy group, spoke out in opposition to the bill.
“The bill’s purported safeguards cannot adequately protect vulnerable patients,” Kelley noted, pointing out that the bill does not necessitate that any of the attending physicians clinically diagnose the mental health of the patient. There is therefore nothing to ensure that the patient asking for the administering of life-ending substances is seeking such recourse due to a genuine desire to alleviate pain or whether it is caused by depression or other mental health issues.
Kelley went on to underscore that this problem is only compounded by the fact that the proposed bill offers no legal or clinical standard by which to judge whether the patient is competent or acting of their own free will.
According to the bill, a physician would not be subject to any criminal or civil penalties or professional disciplinary action if they administer life-ending substances to a patient if several conditions are met, including if the patient makes two oral requests for life-ending substances in the presence of a physician within a 15-day period, and the life-ending substances must be self-administered.
Some who provided testimony expressed skepticism on the efficacy of these safeguards, while others spoke of the broader social and moral implications of the bill.
“It is sadly ironic that this dangerous legislation is being considered on the World Day of the Sick, a day that asks us to pray for the sick and suffering and those who care for them,” wrote Father Bernard Healey in a written testimony delivered on behalf of the Rhode Island Catholic Conference.
Father Healey noted that the Church’s opposition to physician assisted suicide is rooted in the belief that “the intentional taking of human life…violates the most basic tenant of our belief in the dignity and sacredness of human life.”
Father Healey further noted that attempts to legalize physician-assisted suicide disproportionately impact the poor and marginalized, many of whom have a difficult time affording alternatives to life ending procedures.
“Physician-assisted suicide endangers the weak and marginalized in society, especially the poor, minorities, elderly, mentally ill, disabled and terminally ill,” Father Healey wrote.
The Committee voted to hold the bill for further study.
