This op-ed originally appeared in the Union Leader on Wednesday, April 10, 2024
As the NH legislature is on the verge of passing a bill that would support state-sanctioned suicide, I would like to emphasize the danger that HB 1283 poses to NH young people, a concern important to us all.
HB 1283 positions suicide as an option for those who have received a terminal diagnosis from a physician. Beyond the fact that no diagnosis is foolproof, looking at states and countries that have promoted assisted suicide, this is just the first step to what will surely be an ever-widening pool of those who are “eligible” to end their lives.
At 23 years old, I have more chronic, incurable, and life-altering diseases than I can count on one hand. I am also a survivor of a suicide attempt and have dealt with strong suicidal ideation as I’ve faced daily suffering and the loss of my health as I knew it. While I have gotten the help I need to learn to live happily with my near constant illness, it has been one of the hardest tasks of my life, a task further burdened by the countless doctors I saw who knew little to nothing of my conditions or how to treat them.
The happiness I have found does not come from a cure, but rather, from learning to appreciate and embrace the gift of my life, however limited, and the value it holds, not only for myself but for my family, friends, and others around me.
This legislation fails to reinforce the value of NH citizens. Rather, assisted suicide, by its nature, creates a cruel scale of value on human lives, deeming some more worthy than others, simply based on their circumstances. With assisted suicide, we are no longer stating that we should protect all lives from suicide, instead, we are saying that some lives should be exempt from that protection, that some lives are simply not worth living.
In the case of HB 1283, we are making this judgment solely on the basis of a medical provider’s assessment of an individual’s physical health.
As a society, we work diligently to prevent suicide in healthy individuals, because of the knowledge that their lives have inherent and immeasurable value, and we know their death would be a tragedy. Is it our place to remove that value and promote suicide simply because someone is challenged by suffering? Doing so has devastating and far reaching consequences, especially for NH young people, for whom suicide rates are already on the rise.
The supporters of this bill assert that medical aid in dying (MAID) is not actually suicide, because those who utilize MAID do not wish to die, and those who end their lives by suicide do wish to die, and therefore puts no one at risk. I find this claim incredibly false. When I attempted suicide, I did not wish to die, rather, I desperately wished to live. I simply saw no alternative to the mental and physical suffering I was experiencing.
Recently, I lost a childhood friend to suicide. He was young, with a young family. Another young woman I know of took her life last month; her obituary reads “she made a heart-breaking decision in an effort to pursue peace.” Passing HB 1283 will clearly send the message to vulnerable young people that intentionally and unnaturally ending one’s life in the face of suffering is a legitimate solution to their pain.
One of the greatest burdens in my personal health journey has not been the illness itself, but reconciling the unavoidable pain, discomfort, and fear with the goodness of life. I believe many young people in a similar position would say the same. I still struggle to accept this, but while I can hardly remember a day without bodily suffering, I also cannot remember a day where I have not been able to find great meaning and joy.
When the proponents of this bill state that it is not only permissible, but dignified, to take one’s life when confronting great adversity, it undermines the efforts of all of those, like myself, who have fought so hard to live in the face of grave, and often silent, suffering. It puts countless NH young people at risk, by normalizing suicide as an acceptable solution to their burdens. Contrary to the message of this bill, our suffering doesn’t define us.
Our lives, however difficult, however limited, are worth living and celebrating. The Granite State needs to protect lives, not legislate ways to end them. I urge those who value every life to reach out to their state senator and ask them to vote against HB 1283.
