Legislators in Illinois and New York recently passed legislation to legalize physician-assisted suicide, making them the twelfth and thirteenth states in the Unites States to do so. There are currently an additional seventeen states considering legislation to that end. Clearly, there is a growing trend toward the wholesale acceptance of physician-assisted suicide or Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in our country. In fact, a recent study revealed that 63% of Americans do not think that physician-assisted suicide is morally wrong.
In light of this, at their most recent meeting, the Board of Directors of Lutherans For Life issued a new statement condemning the use of physician-assisted suicide in any and every form. Physician-assisted suicide seeks to usurp God’s authority and is a violation of the Fifth Commandment. We recognize God as the author of life, who alone has the right to determine our life’s end, and in whom alone we find true dignity and the solution to suffering.
You can find the full statement on MAiD, along with all of LFL’s position statements, here.