Skip to comments.
Is N.J. ready for aid-in-dying legislation?
The Record ^
| 04.30.17
| Lindy Washburn
Posted on 04/30/2017 7:02:27 PM PDT by Coleus
A group that helps its members to plan their funerals gathered Sunday to learn about legislation in New Jersey that would help them if they were terminally ill to plan their deaths. New Jersey's Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act already has passed the Assembly. It is expected to come to a vote in the state Senate later this year. Although Gov. Chris Christie has said he would veto such legislation, the bill's advocates hope his successor, to be elected in November, will sign it into law.
"I find it likely we will see this pass and become law in the next legislative session, which starts next year," Ethan Andersen, a 23-year-old advocate for the bill, told the inaugural meeting of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Northern New Jersey in Parsippany on Sunday. "In the meantime, we still have a lot of work to do." The New Jersey measure, patterned after a law passed in Oregon in 1997, would allow a terminally ill, mentally competent, adult resident of New Jersey to request and use a prescription for lethal medication. Six states and the District of Columbia already have such laws. Two physicians would be required to attest that the person had less than six months to live. The request would have to be made in writing and witnessed by two people including one who was neither a family member, a beneficiary of the patient's will, or the attending physician. A second request would have to be made orally. The person who requested it would have to be capable of taking the medicine himself or herself.
Showdown set over legalizing assisted suicide
Assemblyman John Burzichelli, a Gloucester County Democrat who introduced the legislation in 2014 and 2016 with Assemblyman Tim Eustace of Maywood, said he considered it "not a question of if, but when" the bill will become law.
"People recognize the need for it through their own experiences, and those of people close to them," Burzichelli said Friday.
Eustace, a chiropractor, said he heard about it quite a bit from his patients. "It's a timely thing, that we take care of our relatives at least as well as we care for our pets," Eustace said.
A Rutgers-Eagleton Poll in early 2015 found that nearly two-thirds of New Jersey residents 63 percent supported the measure. An additional 29 percent opposed it, and 8 percent had no opinion. The bill died without a vote in the state Senate that year, after passing the Assembly in 2014.
Members of the Funeral Consumers Alliance had many practical questions for Andersen:
-
How does medication actually work? Most patients receive a prescription for an oral dose of a barbiturate, Andersen said. The contents of the capsules usually are dissolved in water, and the patient drinks it. Within five minutes, Andersen said, the patient falls asleep, "and in a half-hour, they're dead."
-
Is the patient required to use the medicine, once it has been prescribed? No, Andersen said. About one-third of patients prescribed the medicine in Oregon have chosen not to use it.
-
Are there limits on when it can be taken? No, a terminally ill patient can take it when he or she chooses to. The average patient in Oregon waits 45 days to take it, Andersen said.
Opposition to the measure in New Jersey has come from the New Jersey Catholic Conference and the Medical Society of New Jersey, which represents physicians. To many members of the group, information about the New Jersey measure was new. "I truly want there to be these options," said Thea Lintern of Morristown. "I like that the bill is 20 pages long. He made it very clear that it's very thoughtful. I want the option there to end it on your own terms."
A 90-year-old, who asked that his name not be used, said he favors the legislation, "but I hope I don't have to use it." The Rev. Joseph McCarthy, a Methodist minister, said attitudes toward "death with dignity" are evolving just as attitudes toward gay rights have evolved. "We're already doing it, anyway," he said, although such actions are not openly acknowledged. "Today I'm 77," he said. "Over the course of my life I've had to grow and adjust and learn. Hopefully, individuals mature as we age."
The Funeral Consumers Alliance, formed this year through the merger of the Memorial Societies of Northeast and North Central New Jersey, is one of 70 such organizations nationwide. They exist to educate their members about funeral options and provide price comparisons for various funeral services. For more information: www.fcannj.org
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: euthanasia
Democrats just can't wait to kill you...and to democrat eustace, people are not pets, humans are created by God in His image. It's God's will when we die, and it's sinful to hasten death.
1
posted on
04/30/2017 7:02:27 PM PDT
by
Coleus
2
posted on
04/30/2017 7:03:17 PM PDT
by
Coleus
(For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.)
To: All
One great thing about Chris Christie, he is a practicing Catholic, Sends his children to Catholic School and is PRO-LIFE.
I would vote for him again just for that. It’s well worth it.
3
posted on
04/30/2017 7:05:36 PM PDT
by
Coleus
(For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.)
Comment #4 Removed by Moderator
To: Coleus
Agree completely. Is Chris Christies a flawed person? Yes — and so am I. But Chris Christie gave the thumbs down to the murder of the unborn and the dying. For that, I give Christie the thumbs up.
5
posted on
04/30/2017 7:15:28 PM PDT
by
utahagen
To: Coleus
To: Coleus
Maybe the miracle drugs used in “aid-in-dying” (or whatever euphemism is used) could be used to alleviate the shortage of death-penalty drugs. After all, we’re told, these “assisted suicide” drugs offer a blissful, death with dignity.
Oops, my bad. Killing elderly or unhealthy innocents is progressive — killing the guilty is evil. I get soooo confused.
To: Coleus
You’re right; despite all of the criticism of Christie here on FR (and some is warranted), he is a pro-life, anti-tax governor - maybe the last one we have here in NJ as Americans flee the state in droves.
8
posted on
05/01/2017 4:04:43 AM PDT
by
kearnyirish2
(Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
To: kearnyirish2
maybe the last one we have here in NJ as Americans flee the state in droves. >>
I’m afraid so...and I loved his 2% cap on raising taxes, public entities are finally laying off people to keep the budget stable. And I agree with what he said about marijuana yesterday.
9
posted on
05/02/2017 7:30:32 PM PDT
by
Coleus
(For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.)
To: Coleus
Have you seen the story where Bayonne may be laying off almost 300 people (including 250+ untenured teachers)? These public employee unions live in another world; they would squeeze us until every single home is foreclosed...then lobby for open borders to bring foreigners in to buy the homes and pay the taxes (with no thought given to the fact that employers are leaving as well as American workers).
10
posted on
05/03/2017 3:52:53 AM PDT
by
kearnyirish2
(Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson