Support Real Care, Oppose Assisted Suicide
Dear [Your Elected Official],

As your constituent, I urge you to oppose efforts to legalize assisted suicide. The physician assisted suicide bill that was introduced during the last biennium remains one of the most aggressive assisted suicide bills in the country. In a state with some of the best healthcare in the world, we should be enacting policies that improve care, not hasten death.

Legalizing assisted suicide deliberately undermines human dignity by endangering the health of society’s most vulnerable. Let’s improve education around advanced care and end-of-life planning. Let’s promote greater access to and training for palliative care. And let’s continue to work to ensure our elderly and those with disabilities are adequately cared for so that no one feels that they have no other option than assisted suicide.

Can I expect you to oppose any bill that would legalize physician assisted suicide? Thank you.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your City & State]

PHONE SCRIPT:

Hello, my name is ________. I am a Catholic constituent from _____ (parish) in ____ (town). I am calling to ask that you oppose any effort to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Please consider how this will impact our most vulnerable neighbors, especially people with disabilities, older adults, or those struggling with a terminal disease. When care is expensive and killing is cheap, which do we think will prevail? As your constituent, I would like you to consider these points: It’s not about suffering. Data from Oregon shows that current pain is not even one of the top five reasons why people choose assisted suicide. Rather, people tend to cite “fear of future pain” or “fear of being a burden” as reasons. We can create better healthcare options that alleviate these fears; we need not hasten death. Additionally, it’s not about choice. Those in favor of assisted suicide say it’s about giving patients “one more option” to choose from. But patients already have autonomy and choice when it comes to their healthcare options at the end of life. No one ever needs to undergo unwanted treatment to extend their life. But protecting the choices of a few will endanger the healthcare choices of the rest of us. Thank you for your time!