CHARLESTON West Virginia voters will decide in this General Election whether the state should amend its Constitution to prohibit physician-assisted suicide.
Amendment One appears on the ballot with the description: “The purpose of this amendment is to protect West Virginians against medically-assisted suicide.” If passed, the amendment would add text to the state constitution, which reads “No person, physician, or health care provider in the State of West Virginia shall participate in the practice of medically assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of a person.”
The amendment clarifies that it would not prevent doctors from prescribing medications for pain relief or from withdrawing life-sustaining treatment when requested by the patient or a designated decision-maker. It also explicitly declines to prohibit the state from issuing capital punishment, leaving the state legislature open to reintroducing the death penalty. The death penalty was abolished in West Virginia in 1965.
Amendment One has received support from State Senator Eric Tarr, who says the measure is intended to prevent future legislatures or courts from legalizing physician-assisted suicide, which he believes would protect vulnerable populations from feeling pressured to end their lives. Tarr also noted that similar measures have been passed in nine other states, which he says has led to lobbying efforts from national activist groups to change state laws.
Supporters argue that protecting the constitution against physician-assisted suicide keeps the state’s medical ethics intact. However, opponents of the amendment, such as advocates from Vermont and Maine, have argued in other states that medically-assisted death provides a compassionate option for terminally ill patients who wish to control the end of their life on their own terms. They note that similar laws in their states include strict safeguards, such as requiring two physicians to confirm a terminal diagnosis with less than six months to live, and ensuring patients can make and carry out their own decision to take medication.
Those in favor of a “yes” vote believe that adding this prohibition to the state’s constitution is necessary to prevent medically-assisted suicide from being allowed by future legislatures. Opponents argue that a “no” vote keeps the constitution silent on the issue, allowing future legislatures to potentially revisit the question.
Early voting runs until November second. Election Day is November fifth.
Comments