Mary Forr shares Department of Life Issue’s plan of action

The Council of the District of Columbia will vote in the upcoming weeks on a bill that, if passed, will legalize physician-assisted suicide in the nation’s capital.

According to the original proposal, Bill 21-0038, also known as the “Death with Dignity Act,” intends to “provide procedures and requirements regarding the request for and dispensation of covered medications to qualified patients seeking to die in a humane and dignified manner.” The bill first appeared last January when introduced by Councilmember Mary M. Cheh, Ward 3 Democrat. On October 5, the district’s Committee of Health and Human Services (HHS) approved the bill in a 3-2 vote, and it will now proceed to the whole council for a final decision.

The bill has met strong, mixed reactions since its introduction, and the HHS Committee report includes several testimonies on both sides of the issue. The statement from the Secular Coalition for D.C. praises the bill for being “religiously and dogmatically neutral,” and other supporters point to a patient’s right to choose his or her own fate.

One of the opposing voices comes from the D.C. Catholic Conference. The statement submitted to the committee asserts, “To deny them [those who are dying] legitimate care and treatment is to deny them their life and dignity.” The Archdiocese of Washington’s Department of Life Issues has also worked to spread awareness about the bill since its introduction. In a recent phone interview, the department’s director and Rover alum, Mary Forr, spoke about the process of confronting the legislation.

“Right now, we’re trying to mobilize as many people as possible locally and nationally … because this is taking place in our nation’s capital,” Forr told the Rover. She added that the department is working with church communities by “encouraging priests to preach about [the issue].” For this year’s Respect Life Sunday (October 2), Life Issues provided homily talking points that drew from both religious and secular sources—from Catholic teaching to statistics regarding similar laws passed elsewhere—to present a comprehensive argument against assisted suicide. Several points cite the Catechism and John Paul II’s papal encyclical Evangelium Vitae to emphasize the universality of inherent human dignity. Another point notes that the bill does not require doctors to test patients for mental health problems and that in Oregon, the top three motivators for assisted suicide were also factors that can cause depression.

The archdiocese has also shared a modified version of the talking points with other groups, Forr added, such as Evangelical communities.

Forr also highlighted the informative “call to action” posters from the No D.C. Suicide coalition, of which the D.C. Catholic Conference is a member. The posters give a brief overview of the bill and list specific reasons why it is “flawed, unsafe, unnecessary, and wrong for the District of Columbia” and suggest ways to contribute to the opposition.

Among the list of reasons against the bill, one poster indicates that it is “impossible to predict a terminal diagnosis accurately” and that “no family notification is required is required in advance” of a patient taking a lethal prescription.

As the coalition has worked to promote these arguments, Forr explained, not all responses have been completely negative. “Some councilmembers recognized that the bill is not where it should be,” she told the Rover, “…but [they believed] people should still have the choice [to end their lives].” In response, No D.C. Suicide modified the wording on posters to clarify that the bill, as Forr said, “in fact limits everyone’s choice.” A recent poster indicates that insurance companies and governmental bodies have the power to cover lethal drugs rather than more expensive treatments, and such a decision would limit the choices of those who cannot otherwise afford better medicine.

About No D.C. Suicide, Forr told the Rover, “Our coalition … is composed of various backgrounds who are all coming together.” The group’s website lists seventeen members, which include the National Council for Independent Living; the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington; and Dr. Kevin Donovan, Director of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University. Furthermore, Forr noted, “This is a bipartisan issue,” a factor that helped defeat a similar bill in New York.

When asked what citizens and students can do to help oppose the legislation, Forr encouraged writing a letter to or calling D.C. Councilmembers, calling Mayor Muriel Bowser, or tweeting @councilofdc.

The Life Issues Department worked with No D.C. Suicide to have a strong presence at the October 18 vote at the John Wilson Building in the District. However, the Council postponed the vote, which will likely not take place until after the presidential election. Until then, Forr and her co-workers will continue to spread the word about the bill and strengthen the opposing voice.

To find out more about the fight against the “Death with Dignity” bill, visit the No D.C. Suicide website or the Department of Life Issue’s Facebook page.

Sophia Buono is a junior PLS major and ESS minor. As a resident of the D.C. area, the fight against Bill 21-0038 is especially important to her, and she hopes the outcome will be for the best. Contact her at sbuono@nd.edu.