If the New York State Senate passes the bill, suicide will become legal for mentally competent, terminally ill patients over the age of 18. This is being spun as compassion, but in reality, it is another symptom of despair in American culture. I was the Head Chaplain in New York State’s largest (at the time) hospice, and I can tell you that dying can be filled with hope, love, and grace. Moreover, I’ve repeatedly seen people in their dying days experience powerful breakthroughs like coming to faith, reconciling with a family member, or resolving a regret in their life. If this bill comes to law, it will be a victory for the rampant anxiety and faithlessness in our culture.

So here are seven reasons to ask your state senator NOT to pass this bill:

Reason #1: Advances in pain control make dying much easier.

The science of comfort care for terminally ill people has advanced wonderfully in the last 40 years. Dr. Julia Wilson, physician of the hospice for which I worked, supervised over a thousand deaths and had this to say about pain in dying: “I’ve only ever had four patients who had uncontrollable pain – & most of those were related to emotional pain.” Furthermore, the New England Journal of Medicine wrote in 2021 that 90% of those in Canada who requested suicide said loss of autonomy, not pain, was their main reason for wanting to die.

Discomfort is often part of dying, yes – just as it is part of living. But complaints of physical pain by terminally ill people often mask emotional pain. Listen to what Rosina Kamis, a Canadian with a terminal illness, wrote in an email: “I think if more people cared about me I might be able to handle the suffering caused by my illnesses. Sometimes all the pain will go away just by having another human being here.” But she was granted an assisted suicide anyway.

In our disconnected society, it’s not surprising that dying people feel lonely and afraid and see death as the solution. Isn’t it odd, though, that the demand for suicide is coming when pain control has advanced far beyond what it was when legalized suicide was unthinkable? This is evidence of America’s spiritual poverty.

Reason #2: We live in an era of despair.

It’s like there are dementors floating in the sky over America. Consider: Wikipedia says suicide rates have increased 30% since 2000 and are higher than at any time since the Great Depression. And the Journal of American Medical Association – Psychiatry states that “deaths of despair” – that is, suicides or overdoses — have increased 42% since 2013. For middle-aged African Americans, the rate has tripled since 2013. Finally, University of Virginia researcher Christopher Ruhm found that from 1990 – 2019 rates of mental illness increased a whopping 53%. In this context of despair, assisted suicide isn’t compassion; it’s complicity.

Reason #3: Legally permissible suicides will expand.

Canada approved Medical Assistance in Dying in 2016. Then, Canadians needed a terminal diagnosis of 6 months or less. Four years later, parliament removed terminality as a criterion for suicide. Canadians can now end their lives for mental illnesses like anorexia. Is that compassion? No, it’s complicity! Assisted suicide is now the fifth leading cause of death in Canada; since 2016 assisted deaths have grown to thirteen times the rate it was in 2016. This is horrifying.

Reason #4: Are you sure suicide will end your pain?

This statement will go over like a lead balloon for many people, but it also may save a few people. The statement is this: if hell is real, then unbelievers need to know that death is no solution for them. God and his grace is the solution for them. But if they reject God, the hell they experience on earth will only intensify after this life.

An anecdote will help me make this point.

My friend is a Physician Assistant in a Boston hospital. One day she was doing rounds with a team and they came to a man who was deeply depressed and had been appearing at their hospital for years with all kinds of physical and mental ailments. The staff knew him well, and on this occasion, there was a debate about what to do with the man. One person said “There’s nothing we can do to help this man. He’s been unresponsive to our treatment. So maybe we should just sort of… help him die. At least when he’s dead his suffering will be over.”

My friend said, “How do you know that his suffering will be over when he dies? Maybe it will be worse!” There then arose a debate; some on the team felt my friend was imposing her religious values. But she replied: “Wait a second. You just made a truth claim that is completely unverifiable. You just said that when this man dies his suffering will be over. You have no way to verify that that claim. You have no data and no observable experience to draw upon. You made a religious statement. And in your religion this man dies.”

Unbelievers need to question their belief that death will end their suffering.

Reason #5: People with disabilities may feel pressured to end their lives.

The “right to die” may become an unspoken “duty to die”. This is why advocates for the disabled reject this legislation. They don’t trust so-called protections contained in the bill.

Reason #6: There is a time to let go of life.

We shouldn’t take life, but we also are not morally obligated by God to prolong it beyond its natural endpoint. I once approved fasting unto death for a spiritually vibrant woman whom I’d visited for 18 months as her body was progressively paralyzed by ALS. She reached the point where she could only communicate by blinking once for “yes” and two for “no”. She could no longer feed herself, and after many discussions with family, me, social workers, and medical staff, she decided that it was time to die. I supported her choice and believe it was acceptable to God.

We can set thoughtful criteria for what constitutes a faithful death in the case of long-term illness. The key criterion is whether one has passed the point of a “natural” life. That’s a complex matter for practitioners in the field of palliative care. But such withdrawal of life support is morally very different from committing suicide.

Reason #7: Sufferers need support more than “autonomy”.

“Autonomy” is a callous and heartless ethic when someone is suffering. Of course, some people want to die when they’re suffering! But do they need a kill pill? No, they need encouragement! Giving them a kill pill is like giving a marathon runner gin instead of water at mile 12. Listen: suffering people need the faithful to fight FOR them when the fight has gone out of them. Over and over and over again I’ve seen despairing people find hope again. Autonomy in this case is disguised lovelessness.

Friends, faith is the best pain control. Morphine has its place, and anti-depressants have their place. But they cannot do for you what faith will. And the kind of faith I mean takes time to grow. It must endure trials; it must learn intimacy with the Lord through prayer; it must know how to breathe scripture; it must learn the joy of placing God and neighbor before self. Gaining this transformation is a life-long adventure, and its fruit is absolutely splendid: it is the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:18).

Pastor Fritz