The Real Legislative discussion should be on palliative care, modern pain management, and eliminating fears about death.The Connecticut Legislature’s Judiciary Committee has proposed a bill that, if enacted, would allow Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) in our State. The proponents of the bill—as well as its title—want us to assume that the bill is all about “death with dignity” or “compassionate care.” It is not that I don’t believe the intentions of the proponents of the legislation that they think the bill offers compassion, but rather that their suppositions are based on falsehoods and misinformation.

The end goal of the bill would allow someone, supposedly with a terminal illness, to obtain a prescription for 80 to 100 pills to end their life. They would do this on their own, at home and perhaps alone. On Sunday, St. Ann Church in Avon and St. Catherine of Siena Church and their Defenders of Faith Ministry co-sponsored a talk entitled Assisted Suicide: Disguised as “Death with Dignity.” It was an excellent talk, very enlightening. The speakers were Matthew Kenney, Ph.D. and Vice President of Mission and Ethics at St. Francis Hospital; Sr. Catherine Mary Clarke, FSE, LCSW; and, Lorraine ZuWallack, RN, Hospice Nurse. The speakers dealt with issues ranging from the ethics of assisted suicide, how legalized suicide in other states and countries has proven to be a slippery slope to euthanasia; palliative care and modern pain management as effective and compassionate means to relieve pain and suffering. Our discussion began with the understanding that compassion means to enter into someone’s suffering and to alleviate pain, suffering and fear.

Some facts we should know:

• Hospice care, which delivers “care not a cure,” was founded here in Connecticut and yet our state is the one US State with the lowest use of hospice care;

• In the US states that allow for assisted suicide, less than 6% of all patients who opted for suicide were actually screened by a mental health professional for depression prior to being given their lethal prescription;

• In countries where governments have allowed assistedsuicide, even with all the safeguards in the original legislation, the expansion from “voluntary suicide” for those who are terminally ill—with only 6 months to live—have been liberalized to include “involuntary suicide” meaning by medical determination as well as chronic diseases, i.e., Type 1 diabetes, and euthanasia. In fact in Switzerland thelegislation was expanded to include as one of thedetermining factors to commit suicide, “tired of life” clause; where anyone 75 years of age or older may apply for suicide and Belgium allows for the euthanizing of mentally illchildren. A slippery slope indeed.

Lorraine ZuWallack spoke to the concern many have about a long and painful terminal illness. In the more than hundreds of hospice patients she has cared for as a nurse, she testified to the amazing improvements in modern pain management where on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst pain, most patients are able to be kept at 2 or 3 when it comes to pain management. Yet, proponents of PAS always highlight the myth of hospital corridors with terminally ill patients’ screaming from their rooms. This may have been true in the 1950s/1960s, but modern Sr. Catherine Mary Clarke, another hospice
professional, spoke to the major concern nearly all dying patients have—fear of dying, fear of meeting God, fear of reuniting with deceased family members or others who you might have had a broken relationship with, and fear of not being able to talk openly about death and dying with family and friends. Hospice care deals with all of this. It joins professional caregivers with
expertise to facilitate the process of facing these fears—and facing death with an open and free heart. Sr. Catherine Mary made the point saying, what’s more compassionate—to help someone deal with these fears and overcome them before death, or simply giving the m pills to end life before one makes our relationship with God or with our children right? The latter seems more cruel than compassionate.

Matthew Kenney, an expert on ethics and physician assisted suicide and its affects, spoke to a host of issues particularly the myth that PAS brings true autonomy to those who are suffering by offering them the choice of time and place to terminate their life. Yet, how can this be freedom—when True free-dom comes only with hope? Mr. Kenney also said there is great confusion with the myths that proponents of PAS highlight—pain and suffering—and that PAS offers a “solution” to all them. When in fact PAS only offers an end to life, it does not solve the problems of spiritual needs, family issues, and medical
concerns—which hospice and palliative care do in fact address and can solve. Isn’t this where our legislative efforts should be directed?

Dr. Kenney suggested that Catholics should recognize what the Church obligates a practicing Catholic to do when dealing with a terminal illness: we are not required to go through extraordinary procedures or endure trial after trial of new medications when no cure is in sight. What every Catholic should do is go online to Catholic Ethical and Religious Directives and look at Directive numbers 56 and 57(Google ERDs 56, 57). Be informed and don’t allow the myths to become your “faith realities” on life and death issues.

An informed Catholic Faith will benefit the whole of society since our goal for palliative medicine is “care when a cure cannot be offered.” Our goal is provide reasonable and positive medical care for each and every person created by God.
The Connecticut Legislature’s Judiciary Committee will soon hold a public hearing on the proposed bill (Number 668) in question on Physician Assisted Suicide. Make your voice heard. Inserted in this bulletin is a list of the Judiciary Committee Members and their phone numbers. Please call them and let them know that you oppose PAS and would rather have the legislature work to improve palliative care and hospice services in Connecticut—offering true compassion and offering care when a cure is not possible. Thank you! Joint Committee on Judiciary, Legislative Office Building, Room 2500, Hartford, CT 06106, (860) 240‑0530. Please Oppose Proposed Bill 668.