Abortion and assisted suicide are again up for RI legislative debate on Friday

PROVIDENCE - Abortion and assisted suicide are are both back on the Rhode Island legislative agenda for debate this week.

The anti-abortion lobby is seeking to regain ground it lost when Rhode Island lawmakers in 2019 enshrined Roe V. Wade in state law.

Opponents were geared up for battle last year. But the pandemic shut down the legislature.

Now all of the bills crafted by opponents of Rhode Island's "Reproductive Privacy Act" have been re-introduced and queued up for a House Judiciary hearing on Friday, same time, same place as the annual fight over "death with dignity" legislation.

Named for the late Lila Sapinsley, a one-time Senate minority leader who represented a more socially liberal era in Rhode Island Republican politics, the bill would provide legal protections for the assisted suicide of a terminally-ill patient.

Introduced several times before without going all the way, the legislation would insulate a physician from "any civil or criminal liability or professional disciplinary action" for prescribing medication "to be self-administered'' by a patient to "hasten death."

Those for and against, tend to line up on the same side of the two issues: those against abortion tend to oppose assisted suicide under any circumstances, while those who believe in individuals' right to make their own health care decisions take the other side.

In written testimony, already , Joyce Hefner wrote: "Strongly OPPOSED to this bill. This is a slippery slope our country should not even consider....it is morally wrong and against our Christian belief...vote against!!! "

"Haven't we have had enough problems with these new AWOKE issues. Now, you want us to approve (and probably pay for) the - right? of some (yes - misguided) man, woman or young person to selfmurder themselves," wrote James H. and Judith A. Farrell.

"We feel that you should spend your time and energy (and our money) on more advantageous and self productive issues,'' they wrote.

"For example, cutting...our through the roof taxes RI taxes; or, maybe helping the homeless, etc., etc. - instead of devising easier and more sinister methods of enabling people to kill themselves."

"Assisted Suicide is bad medicine, and bad public policy that puts vulnerable populations at risk. It is a recipe for abuse of the elderly and disabled,'' echoed Amanda and Evan Cornell of West Warwick.

"This bill would mainly help medical insurance companies not have to pay for patient care...[and] enable harvesting of body parts from patients. (again financial motivations),'' wrote Christine Eiva of Ashaway.

From the other side in this debate came this letter to the lawmakers from Debra D'Allesandro of Warwick:

"I do not want anyone to have to wipe drool from my chin or give me pain medication so I can 'live' longer but not be engaged fully. I want to maintain my dignity and have the option to decide how and when I take my last breath."

"It's my life and I should be able to decide how and when it will end,'' wrote D'Allesandro, who described herself as a hospice volunteer who has "been connected to the world of healthcare'' for 30 years, in both the clinical and academic realm.

Olin Thompson wrote about watching his wife die from cancer.

"On the night before her death, she had a very bad time. In the morning, she was taken to the hospital. Given to the hospital beforehand were the documents stating her wishes, no pain and no artificial effort to keep her alive.

At the hospital, he said, he nonetheless "had to fight multiple attempts by doctors, nurses and a priest trying to convince me to keep her alive. They were pushing me to ignore her clear wishes, as documented.

"And now, my son has ALS...I am praying that he be allowed to die with dignity, the way he and his family wants."

The co-sponsors of the bill include 10 Democrats: Reps. Edith Ajello, Arthur Handy, Susan Donovan, June Speakman, Rebecca Kislak, Liana Cassar, Jason Knight, Kathleen Fogarty, Lauren Carson and Carol McEntee.

Friday's House Judiciary Committee agenda also includes a half-dozen bills seeking to ban abortion in Rhode Island directly or indirectly by making physicians legally liable in the event an aborted fetus is "born alive."

For example, the "Born-Alive Infant Protection Act" requires physicians to provide medical care to aborted fetuses that show "any evidence of life," including "a heartbeat; umbilical cord pulsation or...movement of voluntary muscles."

The sponsors of several of the similarly themed bills in this package include Reps. Ramon Perez, Raymond Hull and Camille Vella-Wilkinson, all Democrats.

Also up for hearing: a bill sponsored by House Republicans to prohibit" the performance or induction of an abortion of an unborn child capable of feeling pain, unless necessary to prevent serious health risk to the unborn child’s mother.:

The sponsors are Reps. David Place, Robert Quattrocchi, Michael Chippendale and George Nardone.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Abortion and assisted suicide are again up for RI legislative debate on Friday

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