On April 12, 2019, Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation (per Senator Nicholas P. Scutari and Assemblyman John J. Burzichelli) that makes physician-assisted suicide an accepted practice in New Jersey. This gesture continues to be spun as one of compassion, mercy...dignity: the idea being that those of "terminal" illnesses have the right to request death as the means to cease their suffering.
In response, I must say that life is precious, no matter one's condition, age or social status. Bureaucrats, philosophers, insurance firms, not to mention friends and relatives who believe they have others' best interests at heart, have no right to influence who lives or dies among society's law-abiding citizenry. In other words, no one has the right to pour unhealthy notions into unhealthy people's heads, making them believe they're a financial burden if they dare carry on. Society is, in fact, obligated to foster the ill, despite what any elected official says or what "safeguards" are attached to a bill.
A couple decades back, one of my family members begged for an assisted death, but we soon discovered that someone close to us had convinced him that his value on this earth had been long spent. Once we reasoned with him, he gained a positive attitude, recuperated and returned home. Though he passed away not long thereafter, he was able to experience his final days in a manner that he preferred and not to please one who felt hindered by his presence.
There are no shades of gray when it comes to terminating friends and family. Assisted suicide is one of morality versus immorality.
What good are "leaders" if they prescribe death as an antidote, without considering the many subjective and selfish stances that impact the ill? Are we not as bad if we turn a blind eye to the abhorrent practice?
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