End of life bill gets pushback before Senate panel
Apr. 24—CONCORD — Supporters of House-passed legislation to make New Hampshire the 11th state to legalize assisted suicide faced pushback Wednesday, an indication of how much tougher it could be to get the measure through the state Senate.
Family members and loved ones offered many emotional stories to make the case for the legislation (HB 1283) as a carefully defined way for the terminally ill to end their suffering.
Lucy Karl of Hopkinton spoke of her son, Alexander, also known as "Xan," who used the end-of-life-law in Oregon to purchase the lethal medication when he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer. Ultimately, he didn't take the drugs and died in late 2019.
"This was his choice. It was his right. He had a sense of being in charge," Karl testified.
Many in the disabled community and their allies pleaded with the Senate to reject the proposal.
"This bill reinforces harmful prejudices against disabled individuals and fails to address real issues of inadequate support and resources for people with disabilities to live fulfilling lives," said Melinda Simms of Concord, an advocate coordinator for the United Spinal Association and an Air Force veteran.
The chief advocacy officer for Compassion & Choices, the leading organization pushing for assisted suicide laws across the country, testified in support of the measure.
Charmaine Manansala, who uses a wheelchair, said no data exists to suggest that people with disabilities make up a significant percentage of the people pursuing the option.
"Second, there have been no documented or substantiated incidents of abuse or coercion across the authorized jurisdictions since Oregon implemented the first medical aid-in-dying law," she said.
Manansala also said she is a Catholic; many Catholic leaders oppose the measure.
Sam Safford of Pelham said he and his brother, Ben, were diagnosed as small children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal, muscle-wasting condition.
Doctors said they wouldn't live into their teens.
"Boy, were they wrong," Sam Safford said.
The brothers are 28 and 26 years old and both have productive lives, said their mother Lori Safford, who joined her son Sam to speak against the bill.
Senators: 'Slippery slope'
During a four-hour-plus hearing, members of the Senate Health Care Committee questioned whether offering an end-of-life option could create a "slippery slope" as the law gets expanded to apply to other people, as has occurred in some states and foreign countries.
"I would love to see our emphasis be more on saving lives than in ending them," said Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua.
"I am really struggling with this bill on the need for it and once that door opens, it opens it to the slippery slope, and I don't know how you stop it once you open that door."
Senate Majority Whip Regina Birdsell, R-Hampstead, who chairs the panel that heard the bill, pointed to Canada, which over seven years expanded its assisted suicide law to include those suffering from mental illness.
"That is my fear. We start with tight parameters and down the road just like Canada, we are labeled for (treating) the disabled worse than Hitler during World War II," Birdsell said.
The bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Marjorie Smith, D-Durham, and a key ally, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Lynn, R-Windham, got peppered with questions about the bill's impact.
She resisted "this notion that New Hampshire will become this place where everyone goes to die," saying, "Vermont has had this for some time."
"I hope New Hampshire will become the case where people can go to end their suffering if they desire to."
Bill sponsor Smith said, "We aren't talking about putting a decal on the license plate. We are talking about an end-of-life option, and it is very, very serious."
The House narrowly approved the bill last month on a vote of 179-176.
Rep. Maureen Mooney, R-Merrimack, said 40 lawmakers were absent when that vote occurred late in the day. A later bid for the House to reconsider its action failed.
Particulars of proposal
As written, the option would be available to those who have been told they will die within six months or who are eligible for hospice care, are mentally competent and can take the prescribed drugs without assistance.
Other provisions in the bill include:
—Medical evaluation: Two health care providers must independently evaluate the person and confirm their eligibility. Either provider can refer the patient for a mental health evaluation; lack of mental capability terminates an application.
—Witnesses: Two people must witness the patient's written request for the end-of-life medication care; only one can be a family member.
—Provider opt-out: Any medical provider can decline to participate in this program.
—Waiting period: A patient may not take the medication until at least 48 hours after a health care provider has approved it.
—Death certificate: Anyone dying in this manner would have their cause of death listed as the terminal illness, rather than suicide or homicide.
The New Hampshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention came out against the bill. Its members include the New Hampshire Hospital Association, Catholic Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital, Catholic Charities Inc., New Hampshire Brain Injury Association and the Strategies for Disability Equity.
Cornerstone Action and New Hampshire Right to Life, the leading groups opposed to legal abortions, also oppose it.
