Jessica Rodgers, coalitions director of Patients' Rights Action Fund, a secular, non-partisan organization dedicated to fighting assisted suicide, says proponents are pushing for assisted suicide. She recommends opponents push back.
"This year we had about 20 states that introduced legislation trying to pass it, and that's pretty typical for any given year in a legislative session. However, in almost 30 years, we really have just a handful of jurisdictions in the U.S. where it's legal," Rodgers informs.
The Death With Dignity (DWD) movement has a map that shows which states in the U.S. have legalized so-called “medical aid in dying,” do not have legalized DWD legislation, or are considering legalizing DWD.
Meanwhile, there is also an international movement for assisted suicide.
"In Canada, their law started very similarly to where our baseline law is, and then they did a cost-benefit analysis and realized how much money the government could save if they expanded it. So, now they have a second track of euthanasia just for people with disabilities," Rodgers states.
Television and movie studios are not helping. Rodgers says that popular films such as Million Dollar Baby and Me Before You have "romanticized" what she calls the "terrible notion that someone with a disability does not have a life worth living."
"That really permeates the culture when we look at assisted suicide policy, even though they often talk about people who have what we consider a terminal condition, someone who is imminently dying, the reality is that the reason people use these laws comes down to reasons of disability," says Rodgers.
Overall, he says the message from Hollywood is dangerous, perpetuating that it is better to be dead than disabled.
Rodgers recommends people get educated on the subject and engage others on the topic.
"We try to keep our website updated with the latest news and information on what's happening on this issue. All of our resources are free to download. If you want to join our mailing list, we do send out a weekly digest of the latest news so that you can stay up to date on what's happening both in the U.S. and internationally," Rodgers states.
