New York’s Catholic archbishop has vowed to fight an effort to legalize physician-assisted dying in the state.
Speaking to the New York Daily News, Cardinal Timothy Dolan said he and the other bishops in the state would aggressively oppose a proposed bill that would legalize assisted dying, a practice the archbishop said did not provide “death with dignity”.
“The real death with dignity, the real heroes are those who die naturally, who take each day at a time, savoring everything they’ve got. That is death with dignity,” Dolan told the Daily News.
The bill was introduced in the state legislature after three terminally ill New Yorkers sued the state to protect from prosecution a physician who provides aid in dying.
Dolan said he was not surprised by the lawsuit, saying it was not uncommon for people to turn to the courts when politicians were slow to act.
But he added: “Whenever there’s something that would affect the dignity of the human person or the sacredness of human life, it’s not surprising that believers would rise up to defend those two principles.”
In recent years, the “aid in dying” movement has made incremental gains, but the issue remains controversial. The proposed New York legislation would grant state residents who are terminally ill and mentally competent the right to end their lives on their own terms.
If the bill passes, New York would be the sixth US state to authorize aid in dying. The other five are Oregon, Montana, New Mexico, Washington and Vermont.
Religious institutions have long opposed “death with dignity” movements, which gained momentum recently after a young woman terminally ill with brain cancer moved from her home state, California, to Oregon so she could legally end her life. Brittany Maynard, 29, died in November after publicizing her ordeal in a series of videos released on YouTube.
In the wake of Maynard’s death, the Vatican’s top bioethics official called her actions “reprehensible” and said “the gesture in and of itself should be condemned”.
The New York state bill is said to be inspired by Maynard’s story.
Cardinal Dolan said he hoped to counteract the bill through an education campaign aimed at raising awareness about the options people have when facing a terminal illness. The state Catholic Conference launched a new website on Monday that provides information and resources for those facing end-of-life decisions.
Dolan said he was joined in opposition by an interfaith coalition that includes evangelical Christians, Mormons, the Greek Orthodox and Orthodox Jews.
Above all, Dolan said he feared legalizing physician-assisted dying would devalue human life.
“I’m just afraid of cheapening human life,” Dolan said. “There’s a great move in contemporary society to make one’s worth and dignity synonymous with one’s ability to produce, achieve and be useful.
“When we move in that direction, the weak and the fragile will always be left behind.”
