Assisted Suicide Could Expand in New Jersey

Religion Today | Published: Oct 12, 2012

Assisted Suicide Could Expand in New Jersey

A New Jersey lawmaker proposed a bill last week that would let doctors legally prescribe lethal doses of medication to help patients end their lives, WORLD News Service reports. The New Jersey Death With Dignity Act would allow doctors to issue deadly drugs to patients who’ve been told they have less than six months to live. If the bill passes, it would need voter approval to be enacted. Pro-family groups are, of course, opposed to the legislation. New Jersey Family Policy Council president Len Deo said: “We believe that life should run its course. As our country struggles with the culture of death verses the culture of life, these are inevitable the outcomes we will see in public policy.” The New Jersey law would be modeled after laws in Oregon and Washington that went into effect in 1997 and 2009, respectively -- where doctors may prescribe drugs to help terminally ill people commit suicide. In Montana, physician-assisted suicide has been permitted on a case-by-case basis decided by courts since 2009. Since the 1990s, residents of California, Maine and Michigan have voted down physician-assisted suicide bills, and voters in Massachusetts will see a similar measure on their ballots in November. 



Assisted Suicide Could Expand in New Jersey