Assisted suicide legislation has a lot of knock-on effects that never get discussed in the emotional debate about pain and suffering and rights. Consider the story of Stephanie Packer, a terminally ill, married mother of four.
When Mrs Packer asked her health insurer if they would cover a particular chemotherapy drug, they refused. Since assisted suicide laws passed, it was no longer covered.
What the health insurer did offer to cover was a drug to assist her suicide, with co-payment of $1.20. “My jaw dropped,” Mrs Packer said.
“It’s shocking. We put so little value on human life. And it’s so sad to see that happening. Too many people are not looking for the resources they need. And now we have all these healthy people putting in all this work, and time, and energy trying to get this [assisted-suicide law] to pass,” she said.
“Could you imagine how much we could educate patients and doctors, if we would put even a portion of that money and energy into education, instead of saying, ‘Let’s just kill you and save that money’?”
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