Gov. Kathy Hochul can veto a law with few safeguards and no waiting period.
New York’s Legislature embraces every progressive cause, and the latest is making it easier for people to kill themselves. The state Senate voted 35-27 Monday to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act, and let’s hope that Gov. Kathy Hochul has the courage to veto it for the sake of society’s most vulnerable.
One irony is that New York passed the first U.S. law that banned assisting death in 1828. Eight years ago the New York Court of Appeals affirmed the state government “has an interest in preserving life and preventing suicide.” But times and morals have changed. Life itself is less valued today than a life that is supposedly worth living. For Assemblywoman Amy Paulin this means being allowed to “end unbearable suffering.” Eleven states and the District of Columbia have legalized assisted suicide since 1997.
New York’s proposal is for “mentally competent” adults who have been given prognoses of six months or less to live. This sounds compassionate, but around the world it has proved to be a slippery slope. In Canada the “medical assistance in dying” program has become at least the fifth-leading cause of death since 2015. The law has shed its original safeguards and in 2027 will be available to those with mental illness alone. It already is in parts of Europe.
Again, the Canadian experience is instructive. A liberal culture is bjuilt on envy. If I have a pile of manure and barbed wire in my backyard and told you it's from the government and it was free, chances are you'd shout "Why did I get a pile of manure and barbed wire! That's not fair!"
ReplyDeleteAnd it will become "He got MAiD! Why didn't I get offered it?"