On the recordFebruary 6, 2017
I appreciate that, and I thank you for yielding and thank you for taking the charge on this this evening to share this message. Mr. Speaker, first, do no harm. Do no harm. These are three short words, but, to physicians, they represent a sacred charge--three short words that now hang in the balance here in the District of Columbia after the D.C. Council passed the Death with Dignity Act legalizing physician-assisted suicide in the Nation's Capital. In authorizing doctors to violate the Hippocratic oath of ``do no harm,'' physician-assisted suicide undermines a key safeguard that protects our Nation's most vulnerable citizens: the disabled, the sick, the poor--a key safeguard that helps to ensure our loved ones receive the best medical care when they need it the most. Instead of simply providing end-of-life comfort and a potential for cure, D.C.'s new law is poised to do more harm than good. This act leaves patients unprotected, doctors unaccountable, and our most vulnerable citizens at risk of having fewer medical options at their disposal rather than having more. It is too broad. This act allows adults diagnosed with a terminal disease having less than 6 months to live to receive a prescription for medication to end their life on their own--alone. There are concerns that the definition of ``terminal disease'' is too broad since most doctors will admit that accurately predicting life expectancy is almost impossible; and it is.…
