Make Ohio Like Canada? Democratic Rep. Eric Synenberg bill legalizes ‘physician-assisted death’

A Democratic lawmaker has introduced a new bill to legalize so-called “physician-assisted death,” medically assisted death for patients with terminal conditions and approaching death, similar to what Canada allows.

The new bill, the Ohio Medical Aid in Dying Act, introduced on April 23 by state Rep. Eric Synenberg, D-Beachwood, will likely face significant opposition from state Republicans, with many religious and medical organizations already criticizing it.

The ideological divide between supporters and opponents of the bill becomes clear when one examines how they view the procedure. Supporters call it “medical aid in dying,” while opponents call it “physician-assisted suicide,” The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

In the unlikely event the bill becomes law, two doctors would need to sign off on the prognosis. Additionally, “patients, who must be Ohio residents, would be required to make two oral requests at least five days apart and a written request witnessed by two people − one of whom can’t be a relative or heir,” the Cincinnati newspaper reported.

The bill reportedly says that Ohioans with disabilities, mental illness, dementia and serious and chronic conditions alone would not be qualified for the procedure. The bill would also not require doctors and hospitals in Ohio to offer the procedure, nor would it require insurance companies to cover it.

However, doctors who decide to do so would have to offer patients information about treatment options and other services, such as palliative care and hospice.

Jim O’Neil, of Lucas County, supported the bill after seeing his wife, Addie, die from stage 4 endometrial cancer in 2020. O’Neil asked Ohio lawmakers to join 13 states and Washington, D.C., that allow the procedure, according to Death with Dignity.

“This bill is about choice, a choice only the terminally ill can make for themselves,” he said.

Ohio End of Life Options, an organization that supports the procedure, told The Enquirer that it supports the bill.

Columbus-area attorney Michael Oser also told the news source that he supports the bill, mostly for personal reasons, since he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, being told by his doctor that he has only six months to live.

“I hope he’s wrong,” he said, according to The Enquirer, adding that if the doctor is right, he doesn’t want to watch his family suffer through his death. “When my time comes, when my road of life is near ending, I want to remain here, where my roots are on buckeye soil, surrounded by the people I love. I do not want to have to leave this state to find my dignity.”

Even though the Pew Research Center found in a survey that six in 10 Americans reportedly have no moral objection to the procedure, many people from religious and medical organizations still oppose it.

The Center for Christian Values criticized the bill in its Thursday press release, saying that the framing of state-sponsored euthanasia as “death with dignity” and a “right to die” will ultimately become a “duty to die.”

“It should be a major red flag when mainstream media outlets, politicians, and ‘Big Pharma’ collaborate to normalize the killing of the vulnerable. Synenberg’s bill is not a simple policy debate, nor is it about loving our neighbors well with empathetic care options. ‘Medical Aid in Dying’ is nothing more than a euphemism for the coordinated assault on the sanctity of life, driven by money rather than true care for the human person,” the center wrote.

The center used Canada as an example of a country where a “compassionate” option quickly turned into a “nightmare.” Canada legalized “medical assistance in dying” or euthanasia on June 6, 2016.

“It becomes a business where insurance companies deny life-saving treatments while offering suicide as a cost-effective alternative. This puts immense financial pressure on families—especially the poor—to ‘pull the plug’ to remain solvent,” the press release said.

Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, told The Enquirer that this bill “has no chance” of making it to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk, similar to a 2018 measure from state Sen. Charleta Tavares, D-Columbus.

“Our lawmakers have souls here, and they know that every Ohio life matters, and they’re not going to touch this,” he told the newspaper. “It’s shocking that somebody would bring this bill forward here, and by the grace of God, we have leaders in the House and the Senate and the governor’s office that will find this legislation appalling.”

The American Medical Association also opposed the procedure, saying on its website that it’s “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.”