RESPECT LIFE MONTH – ADDRESSING THE ISSUE OF PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE

We have an obligation to accompany and care for the dying at every moment, through and including the moment of natural death. This requires that we support families in caring for the dying, that we make essential forms of assistance such as palliative and hospice care readily available, and that we ensure that the dying receive basic measures such as food, water, warmth, and treatment of pain. That is how we truly show respect for the human dignity of our sisters and brothers who are dying.

What is the situation at hand? Physician assisted suicide (PAS) is the act whereby a doctor provides a patient with a poison that the patient may ingest in order to take his/her own life. Supporters of PAS have announced their intention to once again ask for legislation to legalize this particular form of suicide in New Hampshire.

Through the month of October, there will be cards in the pews informing the legislature that we oppose the legislation that would legalize PAS. You are invited to take a card, sign it and return the cards in the offertory or to the office by October 31, 2026. Alternately, you may sign an electronic version by going to catholicnh.org/euthanasia.

What should we be doing instead of legalizing PAS? A bi-partisan legislative committee that met last fall found that New Hampshire residents do not have sufficient access to the palliative and hospice care they need. That being the case, the “choice” that a PAS law would really offer to the dying, especially those who cannot afford end of life health care that is available to wealthier citizens, amounts to nothing more than assisted suicide or physician assisted suicide.

Our goal should be to create a robust and easily accessible system of palliative and hospice care and to help families be able to care for their loved ones at the end of life.