Family Institute of Connecticut Action to Join Second Thoughts Connecticut Press Conference on March 14th in Opposition to Assisted Suicide Bill
Contact: Peter Wolfgang, Family Institute of Connecticut Action, 860-548-0066
HARTFORD, Conn., March 13, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Family Institute of Connecticut Action will join a press conference in room 1C of the Legislative Office Building on Friday, March 14 at 2:00 p.m. to oppose the Assisted Suicide bill, H.B. 5326. The press conference is sponsored by Second Thoughts Connecticut, a local grassroots organization for people with disabilities.
Second Thoughts spokesperson Cathy Ludlum will be joined by Rep. Peggy Sayers (D-Windsor), Deputy House Republican Leader Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-North Branford) and other legislators from both parties. The press conference will also include local experts like Dr. Joseph Andrews, chairman of the Medical Board of Connecticut Hospice in Branford, James D. McGaughey, executive director of the Connecticut State Government's Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities and other disability rights and elder care experts as well as allies from a wide ideological range. On Monday, these speakers will offer public hearing testimony laying out the case for why "Aid In Dying" legislation is bad public policy that puts vulnerable people at risk.
Family Institute of Connecticut Action President Peter Wolfgang stated, "Nobody supports keeping a patient alive by extraordinary means against that patient's will. HB 5326 is not about that but about actively taking a human life. It isn't compassion, when someone reaches out for help, to offer deadly pills instead of hope."
"We should show true compassion and use the power of the state to offer increased access to hospice care; adequate staffing at state licensed nursing homes; or require medical training in symptom and pain management for medical students. Assisted Suicide legislation has been rejected over 100 times across America. Most recently, in the first week of March, 2014, New Hampshire Assisted Suicide bill HB1325 was defeated by a landslide of 219 to 66. Compassion and Choices is an outside organization, planted here by a national group, formerly the Hemlock Society, to change Connecticut's long-standing legal protections for the vulnerable. With the elderly population in America about to significantly expand, Connecticut would benefit more from subsidizing research into cutting-edge pain management techniques instead of spending precious resources on state implementation, administration and reporting requirements for this drastic, culture-changing bill."
The Family Institute of Connecticut Action is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to creating a family-friendly environment in our state. We are working to encourage and strengthen the family as the foundation of society and to promote sound ethical and moral values in our culture and government. You can learn more about the Family Institute of Connecticut Action at our web site, www.ctfamily.org, or by calling our Hartford office at (860) 548-0066 or toll-free (877) 33-FAMILY.
