New Jersey is crossing a line that will define the state for generations to come. They one of the first states to enact a law that will allow people to take their own lives should they decide that they want too.
The new right-to-die law was set to take effect within weeks until a judge stepped in to stop the insane law from taking effect. This is a time when a judge has finally done the right thing.
Many of the federal judges like to make laws and that is destructive for the country. But this time the preservation of life has been upheld. The judge intervened when a doctor filed the lawsuit because he did not want to participate in helping people kill themselves.
He also does not believe it to be right to refer people to doctors that would help them end their own lives. The doctor has made the right choice in opting out from helping people murder themselves.
This decision by the doctor is based on his convictions and religious beliefs. Besides his beliefs, he believes that his duty as a doctor prohibits him from helping people kill themselves. As a doctor, he has the mission to help heal people not destroy them.
In his lawsuit, he stated “that being required to transfer medical records under the law is “not only a violation of the rights to practice medicine without breaching the fiduciary duties owing to those patients … but also violations of their First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution to freely practice their religions in which human life is sacred and must not be taken.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy tried easing his conscience as a Democratic Catholic by stating, “It is really hard for me, particularly given growing up as a Catholic. This one was not an easy one to get to, but I got convinced that it shouldn’t be the law that dictates how things end. But it should be you and your loved ones.”
Murphy was afraid to live up to his convictions. He had the chance to keep murderous thoughts and beliefs from becoming law, but he failed at it.
The doctor that filed the lawsuit lives up to his convictions as a person of faith and as a doctor. The doctors that assist people to end their own lives violate their oath as a doctor to do no harm. Not to mention that some new drugs and technologies are available to terminal patients that can help sure or prolong their lives.
In an attempt to make this lousy law moral some stipulations have to be observed. Each person seeking to kill themselves must go through a two-week waiting period before the doctors can murder them.
They must have only months to live and be diagnosed by two separate doctors. Each person must also sign a written declaration with witnesses present that the person is acting under their own decision and is not being forced into something that they do not want to do. It is also the law that the person must take the medication themselves.
This restraining order is a wave of relief for the people of New Jersey. Many people believe that those that chose to end it all are at risk of coercion and abuse at the hands of the very people that no longer want to take care of them. The injunction provides time for people to rethink the wisdom behind this stupid law.
New Jersey is not the first state to enact such laws, but they are in the top 10. Many in the state believe that this law is a threat to the poor, older people, terminally ill people, those with disabilities.
There is no reason for any state to have such a law. Instead of trying to help people end it all states should be looking for ways to provide the best end of life care to assist families and patients to have a long and full life.
