By a nearly unanimous vote, the US Bishops agreed to the preparation of a
brief policy statement on assisted suicide, which they will debate and
vote on at their spring assembly in June.
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, outlined the “increasingly urgent threat” posed by the wider use of assisted suicide in the United States.
He spoke on 16 November at the fall general assembly of the US
Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore.
Although for many years, Oregon was the only State where assisted suicide was permitted, “the situation has changed in recent years, and very much for the worse,” the Cardinal said.
He described the proponents of assisted suicide - led by the group
Compassion & Choices, formerly called the Hemlock Society - as “more
organised, better funded and more sophisticated” than ever before.
Both Bishops from Montana - Bishop George Leo Thomas of Helena and Bishop Michael W Warfel of Great Falls and Billings - rose to speak in favour of the proposed statement.
Assisted suicide has been legal in Montana since 2008 following a court
decision said to ban it violated the State constitution.
Proponents of assisted suicide “make it appear as if it is the compassionate way to go,” said Bishop Warfel, adding that those who oppose it need more tools and resources to combat that attitude.
Cardinal DiNardo said he had also heard from Bishop Salvatore R Matano
of Burlington, Vermont, in support of such a policy statement.
Some legislators have been working to pass a law permitting assisted
suicide in Vermont; its proponents include the State’s governor-elect,
Peter Shumlin.
Some Bishops asked whether the policy statement might be approved before
June, but Cardinal DiNardo said it must come before all the Bishops to
carry the “full weight” of the conference.
The vote to draft such a statement was 218-1.
It will come before the Bishops at their 13-15 June Spring assembly in
Seattle, where assisted suicide has been legal since 2008.
The vote was the final public action by the Bishops before they went
into executive session for the remainder of their 15-18 November
meeting.
SIC: TR/AUS