Bishop's message regarding the recent Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act in NJ

On August 1, 2019, the Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act came into effect in New Jersey.  This new law allows New Jersey residents, who are 18 or older and considered mentally competent, to ask for and receive assistance from doctors to end their lives if they are terminally ill and have only six months or less to live. Although the law uses the term “medical aid in dying,” this is nothing less than state government sanctioned physician assisted suicide, a form of euthanasia.
Euthanasia, often referred to as “mercy killing,” is the intentional act of bringing about the death of a person who is physically suffering.  Saint John Paul II stated that euthanasia is a grave offense against the law of God (Evangelium Vitae 65) which is not only known through revelation, but also through the natural law, that is, written in the hearts of human beings. It cannot be changed by any man-made law.
Our Church’s objections to this law, and euthanasia, are not just born out of a concern for Catholics, but for all people.  The permission this law gives to commit such acts will surely lessen human dignity because it corrupts the inherent dignity of human life. An autonomous judgement concerning whose life is worthy of living and whose is not will always affect the judgement of other persons concerning human dignity.
The law gives the impression that it is motivated by compassion for those who are terminally ill, with six months or less to live.  We often hear that it is an attempt to lessen their sufferings, promising dignity in their death, while preventing them from being a burden, especially financially, to others.  This reasoning is faulty. Pain relief and pain management are readily available as is excellent palliative care through hospice programs which affirm the dignity of each human person no matter their physical condition.
It is questionable that the restrictions placed in the act will not be expanded.  For, how can compassion be restricted?  Why only those terminally ill with six months to live? Why not those with a year or more?  Why limit such sufferings to that of physical illness? Why not other types of suffering, such as that which results from mental illness or  depression? What about suffering as a result of substance abuse and addiction?   This act is just the beginning of euthanasia either being accepted as a fundamental human and civil right, regardless of the state of health of the person requesting it or, as a state-mandated action for those whose lives are not judged worthy.
The permission for the use of euthanasia will have far reaching influence on our society.  This act gives credence to the misunderstanding that some lives have no value, and therefore, can be terminated.  It has the potential of misleading people to believe that they have a life not worth living.
Most Reverend Dennis J. Sullivan, D.D.
Bishop of Camden
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