In 2016, California’s state legislature opened the statutory flood gates for what was called “assisted suicide.” Back then, we were assured that numerous “safeguards” were incorporated into this legislation, ensuring that no “abuses” could occur. One question that was not considered was how any such flagrant dismissal of Hippocratic principles could be “abused.” Wasn’t the legislation itself an abuse?
“Safeguards” in the original law included the following:
- Targets for termination had to be 18 or older.
- They had to be California residents.
- They had to be terminally ill – that is, given only six months to live by their physicians.
- They had to be mentally competent.
- They had to make two oral requests for that deadly drug, at least 15 days apart.
- They had to self-administer, by mouth, the deadly drugs which would terminate their mortal lives.
Even with these alleged “safeguards” in place, the law failed to pass through ordinary legislative procedures. Advocates were forced to smuggle it into a special session called to address budget shortfalls, then ram it through. In response, we at Life Legal sued to have it invalidated on the grounds that it was not legally enacted.
Briefly, we succeeded. In May 2018, Judge Daniel Ottolia of the Riverside Superior Court ruled that the “California End of Life Option Act” was unenforceable.
An appeals court reinstated the law a month later. What did a little abuse of the legislative process matter, anyhow? And besides, there were all those “safeguards.”
Whenever such legislation is proposed, proponents always tout their extensive “safeguards” as a selling point. And pro-life opponents always point out, first, that the “safeguards” are inadequate and, second, that they will fall away as surely as withered maple leaves in a darkening November.
The “safeguards” started to fall off California’s medical murder tree in October 2021, when a new law reduced the waiting period for lethal drugs from 15 days to 48 hours.
The new law also required doctors who were opposed to assisted suicide to facilitate their patients’ requests for “aid in dying” drugs. Life Legal successfully sued to have that provision struck down in 2022.
And now the author of yet another bill – SB 1196 – proposes to repair the remaining pesky “safeguards” all the way out of existence. Senator Catherine Blackspear circulated a list of solutions sponsored by the Hemlock Society that resulted in the bill including:
- Eliminating the terminal illness requirement. If SB 1196 is passed, anyone with “a grievous and irremediable medical condition” will qualify for a California termination. This phrase is taken from Canada’s assisted suicide law, which also allows active euthanasia. “Aid in dying” is now a leading cause of death in Canada. And “irremediable” means only that the person’s condition can’t be “relieved in a manner the individual deems acceptable.”
- Eliminating the requirement that people requesting suicide be mentally competent. According to the sponsor of SB 1196, those with early- to mid-stage dementia should also be allowed to experience suicide with help!
- Eliminating the requirement that the suicide cocktail be ingested. Instead, SB 1196 only provides that the drugs be “utilized,” which allows for death by intravenous injection.
Perhaps the most alarming provision of SB 1196 is this apparently technical matter. The 2016 law required self-administration of an oral agent. You had to take the poison yourself. SB 1196 enables intravenous administration of lethal chemicals – as easy as the push of a button. This is the same mechanism used in Switzerland’s killing centers, which requires nothing more than a small bump or turning one’s head to start the deadly drip. And if someone else pushes the button – which would be easily possible under SB 1196 – then the patient has not committed suicide. Like a mutt hauled into the local pound, the person has been euthanized.
Lest you think this is hyperbole, the Hemlock Society president who is also a sponsor of SB 1196 admits she was inspired by the end-of-life service provided by veterinarians.
The deletion of “safeguards” is, as you’re not supposed to remember, exactly what was predicted back in 2016. If SB 1196 becomes law, the “safeguards” will be gone as if they had never existed. But of course, that was the original plan.
- Please pray that SB 1196 will be defeated! Medical murder in California doesn’t need to advance any further.
- Please pray that, if the bill passes, our legal experts will find grounds to challenge it – as they did in 2016 and 2022 – and that this time the madness can be halted permanently!
- If you attend church, encourage your clergy to provide information about the dangers of assisted suicide laws. Let us know if you need material.
- If you live in California, please contact your state senator and assembly member to oppose SB 1196!