Prayer and Action Request, Office of Life and Social Justice Ministries

PRAYER AND ACTION REQUEST FROM
THE OFFICE OF LIFE AND SOCIAL
JUSTICE MINISTRIES

SB 1196 –End of life Option Act, will have a hearing on April 22 in Sacramento. This bill consists of:

Eliminating the terminal illness requirement. If SB 1196 is passed, anyone with “a grievous and irremediable medical condition” will qualify for a California termination. This phrase is taken from Canada’s assisted suicide law, which also allows active euthanasia. “Aid in dying” is now a leading cause of death in Canada. And “irremediable” only means the person’s condition can’t be “relieved in a manner the individual deems acceptable.”
Eliminating the requirement that people requesting suicide be mentally competent. According to the sponsor of SB 1196, those with early- to mid-stage dementia should also be allowed to experience suicide with help!
Eliminating the requirement that the suicide cocktail be ingested. Instead, SB 1196 only provides that the drugs be “utilized,” which allows for death by intravenous injection.

Perhaps the most alarming provision of SB 1196 is this apparently technical matter. The 2016 law required self-administration of an oral agent. You had to take the poison yourself. SB 1196 enables intravenous administration of lethal chemicals – as easy as the push of a button. This is the same mechanism used in Switzerland’s killing centers, which requires nothing more than a small bump or turning one’s head to start the deadly drip. And if someone else pushes the button – which would be easily possible under SB 1196 – then the patient has not committed suicide. Like a mutt hauled into the local pound, the person has been euthanized.

Lest you think this is hyperbole, the Hemlock Society president who is also a sponsor of SB 1196 admits she was inspired by the end-of-life service provided by veterinarians.

The deletion of “safeguards” is, as you’re not supposed to remember, exactly what was predicted back in 2016. If SB 1196 becomes law, the “safeguards” will be gone as if they had never existed. But of course, that was the original plan.

Please pray that SB 1196 will be defeated! Medical murder in California doesn’t need to advance any further.
Please pray that, if the bill passes, our legal experts will find grounds to challenge it – as they did in 2016 and 2022 – and that this time the madness can be halted permanently!
Please encourage your clergy to provide information about the dangers of assisted suicide laws. Let us know if you need material.
Please contact your state senator and assembly member to oppose SB 1196!

****Are you interested in joining the Office of life and Social Justice to advocate against this bill? Join us on a visit to Sacramento to advocate for life. Contact: Kiona Medina at [email protected] if interested in joining this cause.****