Assisted-suicide bill again introduced to lawmakers. Here's what it would do.

PROVIDENCE – "I have reached the end."

"Please dig deep and find the empathy and compassion to allow me ... the right to end the suffering while I retain the ability to do so," Linda Abrants begged Rhode Island lawmakers face-to-face on Thursday night, from her wheelchair.

"I am nearly 86 years old and am terrified of being in pain with no remedy, having to wait patiently for death," said a second Rhode Islander, Anne Schulz of Providence, in a letter to lawmakers.

"Does my life belong to me? Why can I not decide when to die?" she asked House Judiciary Committee members in a letter, in advance of a hearing on this year's renewed effort to legalize what some call "death with dignity" and others call assisted suicide.

Schulz's view was in the minority among those who conveyed their testimony electronically, in advance.

Most of the written testimony was against the legislation [H 7100], with many of the writers sending identically-worded letters, that echoed, to one degree or another, the arguments that the Rev. Bernard Healey, chief lobbyist for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, has made every year since the bill was first introduced nearly a decade ago.

Healey said those facing terminal illness deserve to be surrounded by compassion rather than handed a prescription to take their own life.

In his written statement, he also said the very notion of physician-assisted suicide, which he defined as the "intentional taking of human life ... violates the most basic tenet of our belief in the dignity and sacredness of life" and, he said, would pose dangers to vulnerable populations, like the "poor, minorities, elderly, mentally ill, disabled and terminally ill."

The Rev. Donnie Anderson, most recently the pastor at Pilgrim United Church of Christ in New Bedford, acknowledged not all religious traditions can accept what another speaker called "medical aid in dying."

But she called it "unconscionable" to force people to suffer "beyond all imagination."

In her own turn at the microphone, Abrants talked about the motorcycle accident 22 years ago that left her a paraplegic, fighting infections that have "resulted in wounds that cannot be closed or corrected, wounds that continue to consume my flesh, and with it my quality of life."

"I have reached the end," she said.

"Death is not my objective," she said. " My objective is to pass peacefully with dignity at home."

If is passed, how would assisted suicide work in Rhode Island?

The bill introduced again this year would allow terminally ill patients – those suffering from a disease that would result in death within six months – to have access to a lethal prescription, provided that they meet several standards.

Among them: A doctor would have to determine the patient is capable of making an informed decision.

Patients would have to state three times – once in writing – that they wish to die. One of the witnesses present at the time of the written request would have to be someone other than a relative, heir or anyone who could benefit from the person's death. Two doctors would also have to agree on the patient's diagnosis and prognosis. The patient would have to be able to administer the medication themselves.

The legislation is modeled on the practices of the 10 states that allow it, including: Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey, Maine, New Mexico and the District of Columbia.

More: This bill would make it harder for defendants to waive a jury trial. Some say it goes too far.

The bill has been named the "Lila Manfield Sapinsley Compassionate Care Act" in honor of the former state senator who died at age 92 in 2014. She had been working to craft the legislation when she died, her daughter, Patricia, told lawmakers in 2015.

"She died sitting in her reading chair," son-in-law Harold Levy told The Providence Journal soon after Sapinsley died. "You can't ask for much more."

Arguments for and against the bill

Many of the emails and letters that came in from opponents were identically worded.

Others, like this one from The Rev. Brian Sistare, pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Pawtucket, went further: "Babies are already being murdered through abortion here in our state, and now with assisted suicide, the sick, elderly, mentally ill, et cetera will be murdered."

Rep. Leonela Felix responded at length – and in writing – to one opponent who wrote: "This is very dangerous for ALL OF US ... God is the only one who should be in charge of every person's life and death."

In her response, Felix said she understood that the topic can raise "complex ethical considerations" and evoke strong emotions.

But after consultation with health care professionals and others, Felix, D-Pawtucket, said she believes the legislation respects the rights and needs of terminally ill adults and affirms the principle of autonomy for them to make their decisions about their own end of life.

Contrary to what the opponents fear, she said: "Studies have shown that aid-in-dying laws [in other states] have not led to widespread abuse or coercion, and patients who choose this option typically do so as a last resort after exhausting all other avenues of treatment."

In his letter to lawmakers, veteran activist Peter Nightingale wrote:

"I have seen death. I have seen the death of my parents in their 90s. My life experience is: We don’t need outside interference in the ultimate civil liberty to choose the time of our death; we certainly need no interference from the state; nor do we need meddling by organized religion."

"There is only one matter relevant to the common good: the prevention of abuse," he continued.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Assisted-suicide bill facing strong headwinds in RI legislature