Bill to legalize assisted suicide receives Senate committee hearing

Legislation would authorize lethal prescriptions, threaten the most vulnerable members of society

ST. PAUL — A state Senate committee yesterday heard about a new bill to legalize assisted suicide in Minnesota. The legislation is riddled with problems and would threaten the lives of the most vulnerable members of society.

S.F. 1880, authored by Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Center, would authorize a physician to prescribe a lethal drug for a patient to intentionally take his or her own life. The March 23 hearing in the Health, Human Services and Housing committee was merely informative and no vote was taken. Dozens of citizens at the hearing wore "No Assisted Suicide" stickers to show their opposition to the measure.

"This bill opens the door to various kinds of coercion and abuse," said Scott Fischbach, Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL). "No witness is required at the death. There are no safeguards whatsoever once the lethal drug has been dispensed." In Oregon, 40 percent of assisted suicide victims have expressed concern about being a "burden" on family and friends. In Washington, 61 percent of victims in 2013 expressed the same worry.

The committee heard testimony from David Grube, a retired practitioner of assisted suicide in Oregon and medical director for Compassion and Choices, the nation's leading advocate and facilitator of assisted suicide. The organization is the successor to the Hemlock Society, founded by notorious euthanasia activist Derek Humphry. No disability rights advocates or other opponents of the bill were allowed to speak at the hearing.

S.F. 1880 does not require that a patient undergo psychiatric evaluation before receiving the lethal prescription. "This legislation would lead to the death of some patients who would want to live if given proper mental health care," explained Fischbach. "Suffering and depressed people deserve treatment and care, not killing."

The proposed legislation relies on correctly diagnosing that a patient has less than six months to live. But such predictions are inexact and often mistaken. "S.F. 1880 would encourage patients who would live for weeks, months, years or even decades to throw their lives away," noted Fischbach.

Testifiers suggested that suicide may be necessary to alleviate pain and suffering, but concern about pain is not a major reason cited by those who commit suicide in Oregon or Washington—the primary concerns involve disability ("losing autonomy," etc.). "We must reject the discriminatory idea that the lives of the disabled, sick and elderly are worth less than the lives of everyone else," said Fischbach. "Everyone deserves support and care, including the best palliative and hospice care. Killing is not the solution."

Proponents of the bill said they plan to hold a series of meetings across the state in which Minnesotans can voice their opinions on the issue. "We should take this opportunity to make clear that Minnesota does not want assisted suicide, and to make clear the many ways in which it would threaten the vulnerable," Fischbach concluded.

Bill to license abortion facilities approved by second House committee

ST. PAUL — Legislation that aims to safeguard the health of women in abortion facilities passed through a second committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives today. It is strongly supported by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL).

The bill (H.F. 606), authored by Rep. Debra Kiel, R-Crookston, would require facilities that perform 10 or more abortions per month to be licensed by the state commissioner of health. It would also authorize inspections of abortion facilities (up to two inspections per year), with no prior notice required.

Abortion centers in Minnesota currently are neither licensed nor inspected by any state agency—even though dangerous conditions and unscrupulous abortionists have been discovered in numerous other states. The proposed legislation would rectify this problem by applying the licensing requirements for outpatient surgical centers to abortion centers.

"Abortion centers perform invasive, outpatient surgery, so it makes no sense that they are exempted from the health and safety standards that apply to other outpatient surgical centers," said MCCL Legislative Director Andrea Rau. "This bill is necessary for us to ensure that the very unsafe conditions uncovered in other states never happen in Minnesota."

The bill was approved Wednesday on a 9-6 vote by the Government Operations and Elections Policy committee. It had earlier passed the Health and Human Services Reform committee. The licensing requirement would apply to the state's five abortion facilities, which together perform 99 percent of all abortions in Minnesota.

Another pro-life bill (H.F. 1047), authored by Rep. Abigail Whelan, R-Anoka, and supported by MCCL, was approved March 17 by the Civil Law and Data Practices committee. It would clarify and strengthen Minnesota's existing law protecting babies who are born alive as a result of abortion. A similar federal law was passed by the U.S. House on a voice vote and by the Senate with unanimous consent in 2002.

Assisted suicide bill introduced in the MN Senate

The following news release was issued on March 18, 2015.

ST. PAUL — The lives of elderly, severely ill and disabled persons would be threatened under a proposal to legalize assisted suicide introduced in the Minnesota Senate today. Because of the broad dangers of assisted suicide, the bill is strongly opposed by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL), the state's oldest and largest pro-life organization.

S.F. 1880 would overturn the state's longstanding prohibition against assisted suicide.

"Our law against assisted suicide has protected vulnerable people for many years," said MCCL Legislative Associate Andrea Rau. "Minnesotans recognize that persons seeking help to kill themselves need immediate care, including medical and mental health care—not assisted suicide."

By legalizing assisted suicide, this bill would open the door to new kinds of pressure and coercion. In Oregon, which pioneered physician-assisted suicide, 40 percent of assisted suicide victims have expressed concern about being a "burden" on family and friends, according to the Oregon Public Health Division. S.F. 1880 does not require the prescribing physician to even be present when the lethal dose is administered, and no witnesses to the death are required.

If assisted suicide is legalized, public and private insurers may have a financial incentive to steer patients toward suicide rather than life-extending treatment. This has already happened to some patients in Oregon.

The Senate bill relies on a terminal diagnosis, but such diagnoses are sometimes wrong. Legalizing assisted suicide encourages patients who would live for weeks, months, years or even decades to throw their lives away.

"The broad dangers of legalizing assisted suicide must not be ignored," Rau added. "The bill introduced today poses serious risks for Minnesotans. MCCL urges legislators to oppose this measure."

International Women's Day to celebrate landmark Beijing Platform for Action

The following is a news release issued on March 6, 2015, by MCCL GO.

International Women's Day will be celebrated globally on March 8. This year's celebration will emphasize the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which is marking its twentieth anniversary in 2015.

Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Global Outreach (MCCL GO) urges nations to pursue gender equality and women's rights without promoting or expanding access to abortion. The Beijing Platform for Action never advocates the legalization of abortion. The Platform quotes from the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development: "In no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning. ... Any measures or changes related to abortion within the health system can only be determined at the national or local level according to the national legislative process" (paragraph 106-k).

Gender equality and female empowerment do not require legalized abortion or access to abortion.

On this International Women's Day, MCCL GO also encourages nations to prioritize maternal health care and combat all forms of violence against women, including sex-selective abortion and forced abortion. The Platform for Action describes forced abortion, forced sterilization, sex-selective abortion, and female infanticide as acts of violence against women (paragraph 115).

The Platform calls for the elimination of "all forms of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son preference, which result in harmful and unethical practices such as prenatal sex selection and female infanticide; this is often compounded by the increasing use of technologies to determine foetal sex, resulting in abortion of female foetuses" (277-c). It also calls for governments to "enact and enforce legislation protecting girls from all forms of violence, including female infanticide and prenatal sex selection" (283-d).

The fifty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which will take place March 9-20 at the United Nations in New York, will review implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

MCCL GO is a pro-life NGO global outreach program of the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Education Fund with one goal: to protect as many innocent lives as possible. Learn more at www.mccl-go.org.

House committee approves bills to ban taxpayer funded abortion, license abortion facilities

ST. PAUL — Bills to license abortion facilities and end taxpayer funding of abortion passed a committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives on Wednesday. Both protective measures are strongly supported by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL).

H.F. 606, authored by Rep. Debra Kiel, R-Crookston, passed through the Health and Human Services Reform committee on a 12-9 vote. The legislation would require facilities that perform 10 or more abortions per month to be licensed by the Department of Health. The bill also authorizes inspections of abortion facilities, with no prior notice required.

"Minnesota abortion facilities act like outpatient surgical centers, and it is time they are regulated like them," said MCCL Legislative Director Andrea Rau in her testimony before the committee. Currently, Minnesota's abortion centers are neither licensed nor inspected by any state agency—even though dangerous abortion center conditions have been discovered in numerous other states.

The licensing requirement would apply to the state's five abortion facilities, which together perform 99 percent of all abortions in Minnesota. Two amendments that would have hindered the legislation were defeated.

The committee also voted 12-8 to approve H.F. 607, authored by Rep. Tama Theis, R-St. Cloud, which would prohibit taxpayer funding of abortion. The state has paid for elective abortions performed on low-income women since the Minnesota Supreme Court's 1995 Doe v. Gomez decision.

"While the vast majority of state money is arguably used to build a better life for Minnesotans, some tax dollars help to end the lives of Minnesotans," noted Rau. "Unless we wish to force citizens to fund an act which they do not support and which doesn't further the public good—and do it at a rate of roughly 10 times every day, weekends included—we should all be supporting this common-sense legislation."

Abortions funded by taxpayers have increased to 34.8 percent of all abortions performed in the state, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. In 2012, taxpayers paid more than $822,000 for 3,571 abortions. Since the Doe v. Gomez decision, the state has paid $20 million to the abortion industry for more than 65,000 abortions.

A third pro-life bill, H.F. 1047, authored by Rep. Abigail Whelan, R-Anoka, and supported by MCCL, was approved by the committee on a voice vote. It would clarify and strengthen Minnesota's existing law protecting babies who are born alive as a result of abortion. A similar federal law was passed by the U.S. House on a voice vote and by the Senate with unanimous consent in 2002.