Christian M.D. blasts California's assisted suicide bill

Christian M.D. blasts California's assisted suicide bill

Grassroots pro-life supporters and medical professionals are voicing their opposition to the advancement of a bill that seeks to legalize physician-assisted suicide in California. And in a rare agreement between secular and Christian healthcare entities over a life issue, the Christian Medical Association has joined the American and California Medical Associations in condemning the bill.

Christian Medical Association CEO Dr. David Stevens says AB 374 has made its way through the State Assembly Judiciary Committee and is poised to move forward in procedure. But he is concerned about the momentum during this legislative session for a bill his organization calls "a lethal threat to patients and the medical profession."

Stevens says the bill is dangerous for patients, society, and healthcare in general -- because it is not about giving patients the right to die, but about giving doctors the right to kill. "Patients can kill themselves -- that's not illegal," he says. "But what this law does is allow physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to become judge, jury, and assistant executioner."

The Christian physician says with AB 374, doctors would be given power to decide the prognosis of patients, whether or not all therapeutic options have been exhausted, and whether or not to end the life. He calls that a "dangerous power" for any individual to have, as well as "very corrupting" for healthcare.

According to Stevens, yearly reporting requirements on the physician-assisted deaths in Oregon consist of a single page of text telling the number of assisted suicides reported, prescriptions written, and forms processed -- but few other relevant details available for scrutiny.

He says instead of being called the "Compassionate Choices Act," AB 374 should be called the "Covert Abuses Act."