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Physician-assisted suicide approved by Maryland House of Delegates

The Maryland House of Delegates passed a bill March 7 that would legalize physician-assisted suicide.

The “End-of-Life Options Act,” House Bill 399, was approved in a 74-66 vote. The bill passed through the Health and Government Operations Committee March 1 for the first time after being blocked in committee in recent years.

A similar bill will be considered in the Maryland Senate in the upcoming days.

“Today’s vote by the House of Delegates confirms what we already knew — that physician-assisted suicide is not a partisan issue, and those who are concerned about the health disparity and economic discrimination issues raised by the bill stand in strong opposition to its passage,” said Jennifer Briemann, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference. “Among those in opposition were a majority of the members of the Legislative Black Caucus and many members of Democratic House leadership, and we applaud their courage to stand up to the out-of-state interests pushing this predatory agenda.”

“We call on the members of the Maryland Senate and Governor Hogan to act swiftly to decry the action of their colleagues in the House and stop this dangerously flawed bill from advancing.”

Also see:

Increased urgency accompanies annual Maryland March for Life