On November 6th, Massachusetts voters will not only vote on the race for President and US Senator, but also a ballot question (Question 2) that would legalize physician-assisted suicide under Massachusetts law. Question 2 is poorly written, confusing, and flawed ballot question which can have unintended consequences to terminally ill patients and their families.
The proposed law would allow doctors upon request to prescribe a lethal dose of a drug that would cause death to any patient who has been told by two doctors they have less than six months to live.
This arbitrary six-month standard and the fact that many doctors say life-expectancy estimates are often wrong, no matter their length, are just two of the flaws you’ll learn about in our Why Is This Important section. You’ll also see this ballot question lacks the safeguards needed to make sure patients learn about other approaches to their difficult diagnoses, thus avoiding preventable suicides.
Organizations such as the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Massachusetts Hospice and Palliative Care Federation, and the American Medical Directors Association all oppose the practice of Physician-Assisted Suicide.
Your voice and support is needed to ensure that Massachusetts does not go down the road of encouraging suicides when other humane and compassionate treatments, such as hospice and palliative care, are available. Read the Why Is This Important section to learn more about this important issue and the flaws in the ballot question on physician-assisted suicide. Then make sure to sign and share our petition and join us as we ensure Massachusetts continues to offer the best care possible to terminally ill patients.
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Read more about why this is important.
