Over at First Things, I offer some suggestions for those living in the few jurisdictions that have legalized assisted suicide/euthanasia; refuse all participation and complicity.
What would that look like? From, “Declare Total Non-Cooperation with Assisted Suicide:”
1. Do not participate in efforts to regulate medicalized killing:
2. Refuse to attend an assisted suicide:
3. Doctors should declare their offices assisted-suicide-free zones:
4. Mental-health professionals and clergy need to help the suicidal find a better way,
I get into details on the whys and wherefores of these suggestions, of course, And then I conclude:
Legal euthanasia and assisted suicide will be with us—at least in a few places—for the foreseeable future. That means that some will face the difficult prospect of deciding what to do if the culture of death knocks on their door.
Refusing to cooperate is a hard choice that could subject conscientious objectors to criticism, ostracism, and emotional pain. But it also sends a clear and important social message: Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s right.
A radically changing culture forces hard choices. If you are asked to be complicit in an assisted suicide by validating or attending, what will you do?