A.B. 374: The Usual Assisted Suicide Crock

I have started to dig into A.B. 374 and it is the usual smoke and mirrors beloved of assisted suicide advocates. For example, I am sure we will hear about the safeguards against the mentally ill from being assisted in suicide. But the actual wording of the legislation belies this soothing notion. For example, with regard to mental state, the suicidal patient needs to be “capable,” to receive assisted suicide. Capable is merely the ability to communicate health care decisions, which is not at all the same thing as not being mentally ill.

7195(5)(c)”Capable” means that in the opinion of the patient’s attending physician or consulting physician, a patient has the ability to make and communicate health care decisions to health care providers, including communication through persons familiar with the patient’s manner of communicating, if those persons are available.

And here is another example of the usual word games assisted suicide promoters like to play: The legislation states that if a prescribing doctor believes that a patient’s depression might impair his or her judgment (fat chance, given the ideological beliefs of pro assisted suicide mental health care professionals, he said cynically), the patient is supposed to be referred for “counseling.” Now, most of us would consider counseling to be sustained treatment to alleviate or correct the cause of the perceived impairment. But under the legislation, it really only means a consultation, which might merely be a brief conversation:

7195 (5)(e) “Counseling” means a consultation between a state licensed psychiatrist or psychologist and a patient for the purpose of determining whether the patient is suffering from a psychiatric or psychological disorder, or depression causing impaired judgment.”

Wait, there’s more. I will post details in a separate entry: But A.B. 374 would not permit Catholic nursing homes or most other health care facilities with a policy opposed to assisted suicide to refuse to allow assisted suicide to take place on their premises. “Choice” my right nostril.