The Minnesota Medical Association has officially confirmed they will maintain their longstanding position against assisted suicide. I am exhausted by this fight but relieved that our professional standards remain intact. We must stay alert to ensure these ethics continue to hold firm in the future.
January 4, 2017
Final supporters
We, the undersigned medical professionals serving the people of Minnesota, are deeply concerned about the Minnesota Medical Association's current consideration of changing its long-standing position on the legalization of assisted suicide from "opposed" to "neutral," given the numerous risks and injustices of this dangerous, harmful practice:
- Assisted suicide is not a medical procedure. It violates our oath to "do no harm," damages the patient-provider relationship, and is not necessary given great advances in pain management and end-of-life care that have been made in recent decades.
- Assisted suicide discourages solving the disparities present in healthcare today. Given economic dynamics of the healthcare industry and the fact that ending life will likely be cheaper than ongoing care in most cases, assisted suicide could be pushed on vulnerable people, such as the poor, the elderly, and the disabled. It will also disincentivize efforts to expand affordable and accessible care for all.
- Assisted suicide laws do not effectively safeguard patients or doctors. Evidence from Oregon and Washington shows that assisted suicide is inherently risky and dangerous. Proposed legislation in Minnesota is modeled after the flawed laws in these states. If the MMA shifted its position at this juncture, it would amount to an endorsement of a dangerous bill that is not safe for doctors or patients.
MMA should advocate for better care options, not abandonment of care. Minnesota is a world-recognized leader in healthcare. Our medical community and lawmakers should be advancing real care through workforce development, enhanced education, building on vast improvements in palliative and hospice care, increasing access and affordability, and ensuring that Minnesota remains at the forefront of research into innovative treatments and life-saving care.
We urge the MMA to maintain its current policy opposing legalization of assisted suicide, because Minnesota should be a leader in advancing care, not hastening death.
Note: After signing this petition, you may receive a prompt from iPetitions to support their website. This is not a request from the organizations that sent you this petition. It is not necessary to contribute in order for your signature to be recorded.
Updates
Reached 500 supporters
October 26, 2016
October 24, 2016
The exhaustion is setting in but we have to keep pushing until we reach five hundred signatures. Please send this link to your colleagues now so the association sees that we are not backing down.
October 17, 2016
The weight of this conversation is heavy but necessary as we push back against a shift that threatens the very core of our medical ethics. I am exhausted by the constant uphill battle against those who view life through a lens of convenience instead of care. We are holding our ground and refusing to let this dangerous precedent become our new reality.
Reached 100 supporters
October 12, 2016
October 11, 2016
The work is exhausting and the opposition is loud but we are nearing one hundred signatures. Please send this link to a colleague who understands why we must hold the line.
154 Comments
I care for dying patients and their families on a daily basis and do not feel that changing your position from "opposed" to "neutral" in regards to legalizing assisted suicide is in the best interests of anyone.
As an occupational therapist, I help my clients participate meaningfully in their lives, regardless of their diagnosis or physical/cognitive ability. Assisting in ending life would communicate that life lacks meaning, which is completely contradictory to my personal and professional beliefs.
I believe that assisted suicide is not necessary given the advances in pain management today and end of life care. Also, I am concerned that it could be used on our most vulnerable, the poor, elderly and disabled.
Please put effort into good hospice care and not into aid in dying/assisted suicide. I do not agree with killing my patients when there are good pain medications and sedation to help minimize suffering.
Physicians are duty bound to adhere to our code of healers always. We as a group are not neutral on physician assisted suicide , we are strongly opposed to any edict that compromises the trust our patients place in us to take full care of them until they die from natural causes.
I am opposed to PAS.
I am opposed to PAS
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The Minnesota Medical Association has officially confirmed they will maintain their longstanding position against assisted suicide. I am exhausted by this fight but relieved that our professional standards remain intact. We must stay alert to ensure these ethics continue to hold firm in the future.
January 4, 2017
Final supporters
We, the undersigned medical professionals serving the people of Minnesota, are deeply concerned about the Minnesota Medical Association's current consideration of changing its long-standing position on the legalization of assisted suicide from "opposed" to "neutral," given the numerous risks and injustices of this dangerous, harmful practice:
- Assisted suicide is not a medical procedure. It violates our oath to "do no harm," damages the patient-provider relationship, and is not necessary given great advances in pain management and end-of-life care that have been made in recent decades.
- Assisted suicide discourages solving the disparities present in healthcare today. Given economic dynamics of the healthcare industry and the fact that ending life will likely be cheaper than ongoing care in most cases, assisted suicide could be pushed on vulnerable people, such as the poor, the elderly, and the disabled. It will also disincentivize efforts to expand affordable and accessible care for all.
- Assisted suicide laws do not effectively safeguard patients or doctors. Evidence from Oregon and Washington shows that assisted suicide is inherently risky and dangerous. Proposed legislation in Minnesota is modeled after the flawed laws in these states. If the MMA shifted its position at this juncture, it would amount to an endorsement of a dangerous bill that is not safe for doctors or patients.
MMA should advocate for better care options, not abandonment of care. Minnesota is a world-recognized leader in healthcare. Our medical community and lawmakers should be advancing real care through workforce development, enhanced education, building on vast improvements in palliative and hospice care, increasing access and affordability, and ensuring that Minnesota remains at the forefront of research into innovative treatments and life-saving care.
We urge the MMA to maintain its current policy opposing legalization of assisted suicide, because Minnesota should be a leader in advancing care, not hastening death.
Note: After signing this petition, you may receive a prompt from iPetitions to support their website. This is not a request from the organizations that sent you this petition. It is not necessary to contribute in order for your signature to be recorded.
Updates
Reached 500 supporters
October 26, 2016
October 24, 2016
The exhaustion is setting in but we have to keep pushing until we reach five hundred signatures. Please send this link to your colleagues now so the association sees that we are not backing down.
October 17, 2016
The weight of this conversation is heavy but necessary as we push back against a shift that threatens the very core of our medical ethics. I am exhausted by the constant uphill battle against those who view life through a lens of convenience instead of care. We are holding our ground and refusing to let this dangerous precedent become our new reality.
Reached 100 supporters
October 12, 2016
October 11, 2016
The work is exhausting and the opposition is loud but we are nearing one hundred signatures. Please send this link to a colleague who understands why we must hold the line.
154 Comments
as a pharmacist, I believe that "neutrality" will mean that MD's will have to offer suicide as a medical option; the mere suggestion of that may lead some to utilize suicide instead of giving themselves or those who care about them the chance to still find purpose in living another day.
I care for dying patients and their families on a daily basis and do not feel that changing your position from "opposed" to "neutral" in regards to legalizing assisted suicide is in the best interests of anyone.
As an occupational therapist, I help my clients participate meaningfully in their lives, regardless of their diagnosis or physical/cognitive ability. Assisting in ending life would communicate that life lacks meaning, which is completely contradictory to my personal and professional beliefs.
I believe that assisted suicide is not necessary given the advances in pain management today and end of life care. Also, I am concerned that it could be used on our most vulnerable, the poor, elderly and disabled.
Please put effort into good hospice care and not into aid in dying/assisted suicide. I do not agree with killing my patients when there are good pain medications and sedation to help minimize suffering.
Physicians are duty bound to adhere to our code of healers always. We as a group are not neutral on physician assisted suicide , we are strongly opposed to any edict that compromises the trust our patients place in us to take full care of them until they die from natural causes.
I am opposed to PAS.
I am opposed to PAS
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as a pharmacist, I believe that "neutrality" will mean that MD's will have to offer suicide as a medical option; the mere suggestion of that may lead some to utilize suicide instead of giving themselves or those who care about them the chance to still find purpose in living another day.