Thursday, March 20th, the House will be voting on HB 254, which would legalize physician-assisted suicide for those facing an illness deemed likely to be terminal within six months by a physician.
Last year, this bill passed in the House by the skin of its teeth — a mere two votes sent it to the Senate where it was ultimately defeated. To stop this dangerous bill in the House this year, it’s going to take a groundswell of opposition from Granite Staters like you. Find your reps HERE, and ask them to oppose HB 254 today.
On Thursday at 8 am, the NH Coalition for Suicide Prevention will be hosting a visibility in opposition to physician-assisted suicide in front of the State House. Bring a sign, family, and friends to show legislators that Granite Staters are against this deadly policy before they cast their votes!
WHAT YOU CAN DO:  Act now: Contact your representatives and ask them to oppose HB 254 Join Our Visibility Thursday: Stand in solidarity with members of the disability, veteran, and brain injury communities who are among the most endangered by assisted suicide. Join the NH Coalition for Suicide Prevention for a visibility in opposition to HB 254 outside of the State House at 8 am on Thursday. Share this email: Use the link here to forward this update to faith leaders and members of the disability, suicide prevention, and brain injury communities. Also ask them to contact their reps in opposition.LEARN MORE:Shannon McGinley, our Executive Director, penned a new op-ed highlighting the coercion that follows whenever assisted suicide is embraced under various guises of choice and compassion. From Choice to Coercion: How HB 254 Empowers Government Over Life and Death “Let’s call this what it is – physician-assisted suicide (PAS). The path to accepting the unthinkable often runs through digestible terminology, and that is exactly how PAS has been softened to become “medical aid in dying.” This is like adding a sweet coating to a poison pill. No matter how you phrase it, this is about the forcible termination of human life with the willing participation and enablement of a physician. Rather than acknowledging this harsh and inhuman reality, those who support physician assisted suicide paint an appealing picture of self-determination and individual rights. The act itself is romanticized – soft music, loved ones in attendance, and a graceful letting go of pain and suffering, all on the individual’s own terms. This idealized image, like its softened label, masks the harsh realities of what actually happens when the state gets into the business of sanctioning and enabling suicide. Rather than being about individual freedom, PAS is about the government establishing the parameters of what defines a life not worth living, including providing the mechanism of death. Given a choice between continuing to invest in costly care for the ill or encouraging patients to die, we’re already seeing what inevitably happens.”  Continue reading… |
