Montana came SO close to closing the door to assisted suicide
The status quo remains unchanged
The status of assisted suicide in the US state of Montana is curiously ambiguous. In 2009 the Montana Supreme Court ruled that “a terminally ill patient’s consent to physician aid in dying constitutes a statutory defense to a charge of homicide against the aiding physician”. This effectively permitted assisted suicide – without input from the Montana legislature.
Since then, opponents and supporters of assisted suicide have tried almost every year to introduce bills to regulate or to ban assisted suicide. None of them have succeeded.
The latest bill to ban assisted suicide almost succeeded but failed at the very last minute in a classic case of legislative comedy.
The bill, which declared that a patient’s consent would not be a defense for a doctor who assisted someone in ending their life, passed a second reading on a 52-48 vote on Tuesday. But on the third reading on Wednesday, four legislators changed their votes and the result was tied 50-50. Hence the bill was defeated. Assisted suicide remains possible in Montana.
What explained the change?
Two lawmakers changed their vote to support assisted suicide, making Wednesday’s vote 50-50. Then one decided not to support it, making it 51-49, and another, Peggy Webb, a Republican who opposes assisted suicide, made a mistake and voted for it, making it 50-50.
Another battle lost ... all for the want of a horseshoe nail, as the old saying goes.
“It was a mistake,” said Ms Webb. “I hit yes and then thought, ‘No, I don’t want assisted suicide,’ and changed the vote. It was too late to change it back.”
She said that she remained opposed. “I think life is sacred from birth to death and I think it should be a natural death. I don’t think we should play god. I know people who are suffering but doctors can make them comfortable in most cases.”
The sponsor of the bill, Brad Tschida, was philosophical about his colleague’s error. “No snowflake in an avalanche feels guilty,” he said. “Human beings are emotional creatures more than they are rational.”
Michael Cook is editor of MercatorNet.
March 6, 2017
Sheila Liaugminas has written a great post today which personalises the controversial topic of refugees entering the United States after President Trump's executive order. She was involved in welcoming three Christian converts from Iran who had escaped to an Asian country. From there they applied to come to the US and went through endless paperwork which confirmed their bona fides. The sudden slamming of doors came as a ghastly shock to them.
Fortunately, it ended happily and Sheila was able to welcome them to Chicago. But the executive order had caused unnecessary anguish. As Robert P. George says, the US already had "extreme vetting": "There are many things in our government that are 'broken,' but our refugee vetting system isn’t one of them."
Michael Cook
Editor
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Montana came SO close to closing the door to assisted suicide
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