Update

Maryland Against Physician Assisted Suicide has released the following statement upon the passage of the End of Life Option Act:

Our coalition is disappointed by the vote today in the House of Delegates, the closeness of which shows that our concerns continue to be heard loud and clear. While these concerns have been wrongly dismissed by the proponents of this bill, we hope the Senate recognizes that the legislation simply does not address any of the dangers that physician assisted suicide poses to Maryland.

 

As coalition members have said all along, there are no meaningful safeguards in this legislation to protect against the coercion and abuse of seniors, the disabled, and other vulnerable populations.  There is no way to address the fact that patients in states where this practice is legal are requesting the lethal drugs because they feel like burdens on their families, not because they are in pain. We know that dangerous prescription drugs can end up in the wrong hands and this could put gasoline on a fire that is already blazing. Alongside these dangers, this practice distorts medical ethics and devalues existing end-of-life care.

 

We will continue to implore policymakers to reject this dangerous and misguided proposal.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – On March 6, Maryland Against Physician Assisted Suicide released the following statement regarding the advancement of bill that would legalize assisted suicide in Maryland:

Our coalition continues to be gravely concerned about this bill’s advance toward a final vote in the House of Delegates. The concrete, valid concerns we have raised continue to be outright ignored by proponents of this legislation. The lack of any amendments being offered or discussed today is a testament to how broken this bill is.

 

We are grateful to the thousands of people who have engaged with the General Assembly on this issue, and we remain committed to preventing Maryland from making this grave mistake. From creating risks to public safety, to dissuading people from availing themselves of existing end-of-life health care, to exacerbating health care disparities, to distorting medical ethics, this legislation will have real consequences.