Lamenting New York’s approach toward ‘culture of death’

Editors at National Review Online raise concerns about legislation moving through New York’s statehouse.

A culture of valuing human life is a fragile thing. Experience has taught us that abortion and assisted suicide tend to march in tandem — where one advances, the other will follow. And where both become entrenched, more aggressive forms of euthanasia tend to become prevalent, with or without the formal sanction of law.

The costs do not fall evenly. Some lives tend to be valued less than others, especially those with disabilities or special needs and those who are seen as a financial burden to families or to the state. As the state takes over ever-more responsibility for support and for health care for such people, the incentives to discount their lives become embedded in the government.

Physician-assisted suicide, like medical or prescription abortion, adds a further kind of corruption, by enlisting doctors who are supposed to be sworn to do no harm into the business of doing the worst kind of harm there is.

Thus far, assisted suicide is legal in ten blue states, Montana, and the District of Columbia. There are active campaigns to push it in many other state legislatures. The success of those endeavors depends mostly on the support of pro-abortion Democrats.

The Democrats who control New York’s legislature are making a grave mistake in passing the “Medical Aid in Dying Act,” which cleared the state senate on Monday after passing the state assembly in April. In both chambers, this was done over Republican opposition with some — but too few — Democrats defecting. The bill’s death warrant is limited to patients with a diagnosis that is believed incurable and less than six months to live. Experience from other jurisdictions shows that once the camel’s nose is in the tent, there will be pressure to expand that either in law or in sub rosa practice.

The bill will now go for signature to Governor Kathy Hochul. 

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