PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Bishop Robert Brennan has condemned Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to legalize assisted suicide in New York State as “one more disregard for human life,” while making clear the added “guardrails” are not enough.
“Rightly, she has said so often that we face a suicide crisis in this state among young people. Gov. Hochul, you just told people that there are occasions when it’s OK to take your own life,” Bishop Brennan told The Tablet. “Forget about slippery slope, that’s just the message that’s been sent loud and clear.
“Nice message to send this time of year.”
Hochul confirmed on Dec. 17 that she will sign the Medical Aid in Dying Act with the “guardrails” she requested to hedge against abuse of the soon-to-be-legal right to assisted suicide in New York State. The governor, who is Catholic, announced her intentions in an article (“Why I’m Supporting Medical Aid in Dying”) posted on her official website and at a press conference later in the day.
“Very simply, it’s wrong,” Bishop Brennan said. “This is just one more disregard for human life, and we just chip away and chip away at it. We’re a society that has really lost a sense of the dignity of human life.”
Hochul detailed how she reached her decision after considering both sides of the debate. Hochul said she will sign the bill, which the Legislature passed in June, next month when the Legislature is back in session.
The governor praised the lawmakers, writing that it will allow terminally ill people with less than six months left to live the option “to speed up the inevitable.”
She wrote that through her conversations with people tormented by pain, “I have come to see this as a matter of individual choice that does not have to be about shortening life but rather about shortening dying.”
“And,” she added, “I do not believe that in every instance condemning someone to excruciating pain and suffering preserves the dignity and sanctity of life.”
The article drew a strong joint response from Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, Bishop Brennan, and the state’s other Catholic bishops.
“We are extraordinarily troubled by Gov. Hochul’s announcement that she will sign the egregious bill,” the bishops said in a statement issued by the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents them on public policy matters.
“This new law,” they continued, “signals our government’s abandonment of its most vulnerable citizens, telling people who are sick or disabled that suicide in their case is not only acceptable, but is encouraged by our elected leaders.”
In her article, Hochul described how she met with dying patients in terrible pain, and how her own mother likewise suffered from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
“I heard stories of a parent or spouse pleading for an end to the suffering and how difficult it was to reply, ‘We can’t in New York,’ ” she wrote. “This was heartbreaking, and it hit close to home. I watched my own mom die from ALS.
“I watched that vicious disease steal away the strong woman who raised me as it took her ability to walk, to eat, to speak, and, ultimately, to live.”
The governor said she reflected on these issues during a funeral Mass for a family friend, during which the priest spoke of “the welcome home to eternal life.”
“I was taught that God is merciful and compassionate, and so must we be,” Hochul wrote. “This includes permitting a merciful option to those facing the unimaginable and searching for comfort in their final months in this life.”
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However, in their statement, the New York State bishops make clear that assisted suicide is “in direct conflict with Catholic teaching on the sacredness and dignity of all human life from conception until natural death and is a grave moral evil on par with other direct attacks on human life.”
Hochul said that she understands and respects the views of people of many religious faiths for believing that “deliberately shortening one’s life violates the sanctity of life.” But, she noted, the bill she expects to sign includes amendments to ensure assisted suicide is allowed in only “very specific circumstances.”
She said these “guardrails” will protect vulnerable people, including people with disabilities and older adults, from being pressured or misled.
For example, an amendment will require confirmation from a doctor that a person has less than six months to live, and from a psychologist or psychiatrist declaring that the patient is capable of making the decision and not under duress.
The governor also requested a mandatory five-day waiting period in case patients change their minds. Written and recorded oral requests will also be required to confirm that free will is present. Also, anyone who may benefit financially from a person’s death will be disqualified from being a witness or interpreter of these requests.
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Bishop Brennan rejected the notion that the guardrails will protect vulnerable people.
“That’s not enough,” he said. “Does that change the fact that you’re taking somebody’s life? How do you compromise on that?”
The governor also wrote that outpatient facilities associated with religious hospitals “may elect not to offer medical aid in dying.”
“Finally,” she concluded, “this is a right afforded to New Yorkers only.”
“I hope those who are disappointed by this outcome know this was a difficult decision for me personally,” Hochul wrote. “It was not made lightly. It was guided by a genuine and deeply held belief that government must respect the rights and will of the people it serves.”
The bishops, however, reiterated that the government’s role is to protect its constituents.
“Tragically,” they stated, “this new law will seriously undermine all of the anti-suicide and mental health care investments Gov. Hochul has made through her tenure,” the bishops said. “How can any society have credibility to tell young people or people with depression that suicide is never the answer, while at the same time telling elderly and sick people that it is a compassionate choice to be celebrated?”
They urged Catholics and all New Yorkers to reject this option for themselves, their loved ones, and those in their care.
“And,” they concluded, “we pray that our state turn away from its promotion of a culture of death and invest instead in life-affirming, compassionate hospice and palliative care, which is seriously underutilized.”
Offering a message to the pro-life community, Bishop Brennan said, “We have to continue to move forward with faith and hope.”
“We have to promote a transformation of the culture,” he added. “That’s the real task ahead of us.”