The District of Columbia’s medical aid-in-dying bill may become law soon. The Death with Dignity Act was transmitted by the D.C. Council to the House and Senate; now, people, including religious groups, are debating it.
Though Congress can still vote to overturn the law or try to defund it, overriding D.C.’s laws becomes more difficult after they go into effect.
If it survives, D.C. will become the 7th jurisdiction to authorize medical aid in dying for terminally ill people.
The District of Columbia joins California, Colorado, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Vermont. And while it is true that opponents want to defund and overturn the law, no funding is required for the law to go into effect. Terminally ill patients, in D.C., would now be able to legally get medical aid in dying. Doctors would be able to prescribe appropriate medications, under the law, without fear of prosecution.
Various religious groups and Republicans have voiced their opinion against this law, with one group of preachers calling it evil. I, personally, see nothing wrong with it. It states terminally ill patients.
If we are talking about my life, and if I am in my right mind, then I deserve and should have the right to make that decision, not politicians or religious groups. I disagree with the National Black Church Institute’s stand against this law. If someone in my family, or me for that matter, is in pain or terminal ill and nothing can be done to cure the illness or stop the pain, then I must have the right to die, if I choose.
The bible says suicide is a sin, but is this suicide? It’s not like a healthy person jumping off a bridge or shooting themselves. God gives us all Free Will and gave us a mind to decide for ourselves. That means that God is telling politicians and religious groups that he did not put them there to make decisions for the terminally ill. Yes, they can give their views, but they should never have the right or power to block my Free Will. I need to say that again. God did not give politicians or preachers the right to block my Free Will.
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